Omalium kurbatovi Shavrin, 2025, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Shavrin, Alexey V.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Staphylinidae
Omalium
Omalium kurbatovi

description: 3.4.4. Omalium kurbatovi sp. nov.
(Figs 20, 39, 50, 53–55)
Type material examined. Holotype ♂ (dissected): CHINA: ANHUI: ‘China: S Anhui, | Zinhuashan. 700–1200 m. | 16– 19.05.1998. | S.A.Kurbatov leg.’ <printed>, ‘HOLOTYPE | Omalium | kurbatovi sp. nov. | Shavrin A.V. des. 2025’ <red, printed> (ZMM).
Paratypes: 3 ♀♀ (one specimen dissected): same data as the holotype, with additional red printed label: ‘PARATYPE | Omalium | kurbatovi sp. nov. | Shavrin A.V. des. 2025’ (1 ♀: cSh; 2 ♀♀: ZMM).
Description. Measurements (n=4): HW: 0.62–0.65; HL: 0.37–0.40; OL: 0.17–0.20; TL: 0.07; AL (holotype): 1.19; PL: 0.47–0.57; PWmax: 0.83–0.84; PWmin: 0.72–0.76; ESL: 0.97–1.10; EW: 1.12–1.16; MTbL (holotype): 0.60; MTrL (holotype): 0.26 (MTrL 1–4: 0.11; MTrL 5: 0.15); AW: 1.12–1.20; AedL: 0.80; BL: 3.47–4.35 (holotype).
Habitus as in Fig. 50. Body reddish-brown, with darker head and middle of pronotum; antennomeres 7–11 brown; mouthparts, antennomeres 1–6, lateral and basal portions of pronotum, legs, paratergites and intersegmental membranes of abdomen yellow-brown; tarsi yellow. Punctation of head regular, moderately fine and dense, slightly sparser in middle and denser on infraorbital portion; punctation of neck about as that in middle part of head; punctation of pronotum about as that in middle part of head, slightly denser and larger in apical, distinctly sparser in mediobasal and finer and significantly sparser in lateral portions; elytra with fine and sparse punctation. Anterior part of clypeus with distinct transverse microreticulation; basal portion of neck with fine transverse meshes; clypeus with fine isodiametric microsculpture; abdominal tergites with dense isodiametric sculpture. Anterior and posterior margins of pronotum and apical margins of elytra with row of short cuticular setae.
Head 1.6 times as broad as long, with narrow and relatively deep anteriomedian depressions reaching level of anterior margins of eyes. Dorsal surface with elongate wrinkles between anterior margins of eyes and clypeus, and irregular transverse and longitudinal elevations on infraorbital portions. Anteocellar foveae deep and moderately wide, suboval, almost reaching level of middle length of eyes. Temples slightly more than twice shorter than longitudinal length of eyes, from posterior margins of eyes slightly narrowed posteriad, each with widely rounded hind angles. Apical part of neck deeply depressed, with row of short and narrow elevations. Ocelli 1.6 times as long as distance between ocellus and posterior margin of eye. Apical maxillary palpomere about three times as long as penultimate segment. Antenna with slightly transverse antennomere 7 and distinctly transverse 8–10; antennomere 5 slightly longer than 4, 6 indistinctly broader than 5, 7 slightly broader than 6, 8 broader than 7, 9–10 slightly shorter and distinctly broader than 8, apical antennomere about twice as long as 10.
Pronotum 1.4–1.7 times as broad as long, 1.2–1.3 times as broad as head, from widest middle slightly more narrowed posteriad than anteriad. Anterior angles widely rounded, slightly protruded anteriad. Anterior margin rounded, slightly concave in middle. Laterobasal portions not concave in front of obtuse angles. Surface of disc with two long and wide, shallow or moderately deep longitudinal depressions, slightly broadened basad. Middle portion without elevations between punctures.
Elytra about twice as long as pronotum; hind margins rounded. Dorsal surface of each elytron with irregular elevations between punctures: transverse around scutellum, and diagonal and longitudinal in mediolateral and lateral portions.
Male. Posterior margin of abdominal tergite VIII truncate. Posterior margins of abdominal sternite VIII widely rounded. Aedeagus with wide basal portion, gradually narrowed toward median lobe; median lobe moderately short and wide, from widest preapical part slightly narrowed toward widely rounded apex; accessory plates narrow and short; parameres relatively narrow, distinctly broadened in preapical portions and narrowed apically, reaching preapical part of median lobe, each with two moderately long and two short apical setae; internal sac long and relatively narrow, with two small oval sclerotized sctructures in prebasal portion (Fig. 53). Lateral aspect of the aedeagus as in Fig. 54; apical portion of median lobe (lateral view) hook-shaped, with rounded apex and strongly curved large ventrolateral tooth in preapical part (Fig. 55).
Female. Posterior margin of abdominal tergite VIII truncate. Posterior margin of abdominal sternite VIII rounded. Accessory sclerite leaf-shaped, from basal portion gradually narrowed toward rounded apex (Fig. 20). Spermatheca not recognized.
Comparative notes. Omalium kurbatovi sp. nov. differs from the remaining species of the oxyacanthae group by the larger body and the morphology of the aedeagus. Based on the presence of large hook in median lobe (lateral view, Fig. 55), it is similar to the Himalayan O. marginatum Cameron, 1941, known from Pakistan, India (Kashmir) and Nepal (Shavrin 2023a), from which it can be easily distinguished by the more transverse antennomeres 8– 10, longer pronotum and elytra, significantly narrower median lobe, broader parameres and other details of the morphology of the aedeagus.
Distribution. Omalium kurbatovi sp. nov. is known only from the type locality in Huangshan mountain range in Anhui, China (Fig. 39).
Etymology. Patronymic; the species is named to honor Sergey A. Kurbatov (Moscow), expert in Pselaphinae and collector of the type material.
Bionomics. Omalium kurbatovi sp. nov. was collected at elevations from 700 to 1200 m a.s.l. by sifting litter.
description: Published as part of Shavrin, Alexey V., 2025, Review of the genus Omalium Gravenhorst, 1802 (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Omaliinae: Omaliini) of China, pp. 501-543 in Zootaxa 5588 (4) on pages 521-522, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5588.4.1, http://zenodo.org/record/14896684