Nazeris sikh Shavrin, 2011, sp. n.
Creators: name: Shavrin, Alexey V.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2011
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Staphylinidae
Nazeris
Nazeris sikh

description: Nazeris sikh sp. n.
(Figs. 1–5)
Holotype: 3, INDIA, Uttarakhand, 10 km NE Govind Ghat [Gobindghat] (road to Ghangaria), Bhuinder Ganga river, 11- 12.06.2011, A. Shavrin (ZMM).
Paratypes: 6 3, 3 Ƥ, same data as the holotype (ZMM, CS).
Description. Maximum width of head including eyes: 0.7; length of head (from base of labrum to neck constriction along the head midline): 0.8–0.85; length of antenna: 1.46; longitudinal length of eye: 0.2; length of temple (from posterior margin of eye to neck constriction): 0.35; length of pronotum: 0.7–0.8; maximum width of pronotum: 0.6–0.7; sutural length of elytra (length of elytra from apex of scutellum to posterior margin of sutural angle): 0.5–0.6; maximum width of elytra: 0.65–0.75; width of abdominal segment IV: 0.75–0.8; length of aedeagus: 0.65. Total length (from the base of labrum to the apex of abdomen): 3.9–5.2.
Habitus as in Fig. 1. Body brown; labrum, elytra and posterior margins of abdominal tergites light brown; mandibles, maxillary palpi, legs and antennae yellow.
Head 1.1–1.2 times as long as wide; temples not widened, weakly rounded towards apex, 1.75 times longer than longitudinal length of eye; eyes weakly bulging from lateral contour of head, punctation deep, coarse and evenly distributed medially and posteriorly, unevenly distributed and finer anteriorly, interstices between punctures without microsculpture. Antenna filiform, reaching midlength of pronotum; antennomere II 1.6 times as long as wide; antennomere III 1.6 times longer than II and narrower; measurements of antennomeres: I: 0.24 × 0.07; II: 0.1 × 0.06; III: 0.16 × 0.04; IV: 0.12 × 0.05; V–IX: 0.1 × 0.05; X: 0.1 × 0.06; IX-X: 0.1 × 0.06; XI: 0.14 × 0.06.
Pronotum small, shorter and narrower than head, 1.1 times as long as wide; punctures larger than those of head, with irregular, impunctate midline widening posteriorly (some specimens impunctate only in posterior portion); interstices between punctures without microsculpture.
Elytra short, 1.3–1.4 times as long as pronotum and approximately as wide as pronotum; punctation coarse, dense and evenly distributed, denser and more impressed than that of pronotum, punctures separated by 1-2 puncture diameters; surface without microsculpture. Wings reduced. Metatarsomere I longer than combined length of tarsomeres II–IV.
Abdomen wider than elytra; punctation of tergites III-V finer than that of pronotum, punctation of tergites VI–VIII more irregular distributed than on previous tergites, interstices between punctures without microsculpture, glossy.
3. Posterior margin of sternite VII weakly concave at middle (Fig. 2); sternite VIII with moderately deep incision (Fig. 3). Aedeagus (Figs. 4) wide, with well sclerotized lancet-shaped median lobe, dorsolateral apophyses long, strongly dilated, forming triangular incision over apex of aedeagus and acute angles posteriorly, with two long, recumbent setae; endophallus with two long structures, covered by numerous weakly sclerotized spines; aedeagus laterally as in Fig. 5.
Ƥ. Sternite VII and VIII without depressions, rounded posteriorly.
Comparative notes. In overall similarity of the aedeagus and the apical incision of the dorsolateral apophyse, N. sikh n.sp. is similar to N. brevipennis Coiffait [Coiffait, 1981:328], N. elegans Coiffait [Coiffait, 1975:163], N. alticola Coiffait [Coiffait, 1975:167] and N. ishiianus Watanabe & Xiao [Watanabe & Xiao, 2000:319], from which it can be distinguished by the paler coloration, the shape of male sternites VII-VIII, the wider basal bulb of aedeagus and the larger dorso-lateral apophyses possessing acute angles posteriorly). Additionally, N. sikh can be distinguished from N. brevipennis by the smaller and narrower body, from N. elegans by the significantly smaller body and the head, which is narrower behind the eyes, from N. alticola by the larger body and sparser punctation and from N. ishiianus by the smaller body, shorter elytra and smaller parameres.
Etymology. The species name derived from the word ‘Sikh’ - a man who professes Sikhism. The type locality of the new species is near a mountain foot-road, along which thousands of pilgrims climb from Govind Ghat to the holy Hemkund lake and Hemkund Sahib, pilgrimage sites for Sikhs.
Acknowledgements. I am indebted to L.H. Herman (New York, USA) for help during my studies, to A. Anishchenko (Daugavpils, Latvia) for help in preparation of the habitus photograph, and to A.J. Brunke (Ontario, Canada) for suggestions and correction of the English text of the manuscript.
This research was conducted within the framework of the European Social Fund (No2009/0206/1DP/1.1.1.2.0/09/ APIA/VIAA/010).
description: Published as part of Shavrin, Alexey V., 2011, A new species of Nazeris Fauvel, 1873 (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Paederinae) from Uttarakhand, Northern India, pp. 66-68 in Zootaxa 3065 on pages 66-68, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.203141