Zyras (Zyras) condignus Last 1969
Creators: name: Assing, Volker
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Staphylinidae
Zyras
Zyras condignus

description: Zyras (Zyras) condignus LAST, 1969
(Figs 9, 48–49, 94, 142–147, Map 4)
Zyras (Zyras) distinctus CAMERON, 1939a: 540 f.; preoccupied. Zyras (Zyras) condignus LAST, 1969: 279 f.; replacement name.
Type material examined: Syntype ♀: “ Chakrata Dist. Manjgaon 6500' / Z. distinctus Cam Type / M. Cameron. Bequest. B.M. 1955-147 / Holotype / Syntypus Zyras distinctus Cameron, rev. V. Assing 2016 / Zyras condignus Last, det. V. Assing 2016” (BMNH).
Comment: The original description is based on an unspecified number of syntypes from “ Chakrata district: Manjgaon, alt. 6500 feet ” (CAMERON 1939a).
Additional material examined: Nepal: 2 ♀♀ Bagmati province, Phulchauki near Kathmandu, 1700 m, 10.V. 1981, leg. Löbl (MHNG, cAss); 1 ♀, Nagarjun Forest near Kathmandu, 1650 m, 1.IV.1981, leg. Löbl & Smetana (MHNG); 1 ♂, Rolwaling Himal, Simigaon, 2000 m, 2.VI. 2000, leg. Kleeberg (cAss); 3 ♂♂, Khandbari district, Arun river, Num env., 1500–1600 m, 10.IV.1982, leg. Smetana (MHNG, cAss); 1 ♂ [teneral], Gandaki Province, 10 km NW Pokhara, Yamdi Khola Valley, 1100 m, 3.VI.2002, leg. Schmidt (NME).
Redescription: Body length 5.6–7.2 mm; length of forebody 2.7–3.1 mm. Coloration (Figs 9, 48–49, 94): forebody brown; abdomen uniformly blackish-brown, or blackish-brown with the paratergites partly paler, or bicoloured with tergites II–V reddish to dark-reddish, tergites VI–VII dark-brown, and VIII dark-reddish with the middle more or less extensively dark-brown to blackish-brown; legs yellowish with the apices of the meso- and metafemora more or less distinctly and more or less extensively infuscate; antennae brown to dark-brown with antennomeres I–II or I–III more or less distinctly paler and XI reddish; maxillary palpi pale reddish-brown with palpomere IV yellowish.
Head (Figs 48–49) distinctly transverse, median portion extensively impunctate; punctures in lateral portions sparse and moderately coarse. Eyes longer than postocular region in dorsal view. Antenna (Fig. 9) 2.4–2.8 mm long and slender; antennomeres IV–VII oblong, VIII approximately as long as broad, IX–X very weakly transverse, and XI much shorter than the combined length of IX and X.
Pronotum (Figs 48–49) approximately 1.15 times as broad as long and 1.20–1.25 times as broad as head, broadest at anterior angles, weakly tapering posteriad; lateral margins not distinctly sinuate in posterior half in dorsal view; punctation coarse and very irregularly distributed, on either side of midline with extensive impunctate areas; surface of disc conspicuously uneven, in postero-lateral portion usually with a densely punctate impression of variable size and shape on either side; lateral margins each with four long and erect black setae, one of them inserting near anterior and one near posterior angle, and two in between; pubescence of disc short, depressed, and pale.
Elytra (Figs 48–49) 0.80–0.85 times as long as pronotum; punctation moderately coarse, very dense, and defined, regularly distributed; whole disc with dense, moderately long, fine, and sub-erect pale pubescence, laterally with long, stout, and erect setae. Hind wings fully developed. Metatarsomere I nearly as long as the combined length of II–IV.
Abdomen (Fig. 94) slightly narrower than elytra, with deep anterior impressions on tergites III–V; anterior impressions of tergites III–V each with a transverse row of rather weakly defined pits; tergite III with a lateral setiferous puncture on either side and with a transverse row of six setiferous punctures bearing long brown setae near posterior margin; tergite IV with a lateral setiferous puncture on either side and with a transverse row of approximately eight setiferous punctures near posterior margin; tergite V with a lateral setiferous puncture on either side and with a transverse row of approximately ten setiferous punctures at posterior margin; tergite VI anteriorly with a transverse row of non-setiferous punctures, with a transverse row of four setiferous punctures in posterior portion, and with numerous setiferous punctures at posterior margin; tergite VII anteriorly with some non-setiferous punctures and posteriorly with irregular setiferous punctation, posterior margin with palisade fringe; tergite VIII (Fig. 146) with brown long setae only in posterior half, posterior margin convex, in the middle often weakly concave; all sternites with numerous long brown setae posteriorly.
♂: sternite VIII (Fig. 147) apically conspicuously acute; median lobe of aedeagus approximately 0.7 mm long and shaped as in Figs 142–143; paramere (Figs 144–145) approximately 0.9 mm long, apical lobe distinctly modified, long, depressed, and apically rounded.
♀: posterior margin of sternite VIII convex, in the middle sometimes weakly concave.
Comparative notes: Despite the dense and long pubescence of the abdominal sternites, Z. condignus does not belong to the Z. hirtus group, as can be inferred particularly from the modified and conspicuously long apical lobe of the paramere. Instead, the morphology of the paramere, the slender habitus, and the similar modifications of the pronotum suggest that it is allied to Z. proximus and Z. novinversus. The species is readily distinguished from other geographically close consubgeners particularly by the modifications of the pronotum, the conspicuous shape of the male sternite VIII, the shape of the median lobe of the aedeagus, and by the modified shape of the apical lobe of the paramere.
Distribution and natural history: The confirmed distribution is confined to Uttarakhand, North India and several localities in Nepal. The records reported by PACE (2006) may be doubtful; two examined specimens identified by him as Z. condignus in fact belong to Z. pindarae. Records from Vietnam and Taiwan (HLAVÁČ et al. 2011) are most likely based on misidentications. They probably refer to Z. proximus.
The altitudes range from 1100 to 2000 m. One specimen collected in June is teneral.
description: Published as part of Assing, Volker, 2017, On Zyras sensu strictu in the East Palaearctic and Oriental regions, with a focus on the faunas of the Himalaya, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Sulawesi (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae: Lomechusini), pp. 117-192 in Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 67 (1) on pages 134-135, DOI: 10.21248/contrib.entomol.67.1.117-192, http://zenodo.org/record/5742363