Zyras (Zyras) hirtiventris Assing 2017, spec. nov.
Creators: name: Assing, Volker
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Staphylinidae
Zyras
Zyras hirtiventris

description: Zyras (Zyras) hirtiventris spec. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 73489C67-FB52-4B48-A2E1-BA1F1E55F45D
(Figs 11–12, 32, 49–50, 96–98)
Type material examined: Holotype ♂: “N LAOS, 1100– 1300 m, Phongsali Prov., Boun Tai (10 km SE), 2004, 16–25 May, Lao collector leg. / Holotypus ♂ Zyras hirtiventris sp. n., det. V. Assing 2017” (cMar). Paratypes: 1♀: “N-Vietnam – 6 km NW Sa Pa, 22°21'39"N, 103°47'19"E, 1810 m, pasture margin, 7.VIII.2013, V. Assing [8+2]” (cAss); 1 ♂: “C VIETNAM: Gia Lai Province, Kon Chu Rang Nature Reserve, surroundings HQ, about 900 m, 14°28,450'N, 108°32,401'E / leg. L. Bartolozzi, A. Bandinelli, S. Bambi, V. Sbordoni at light 8–12.V.2016 (n° Mag. 3078)” [registered as MZUF 18322; collected during expeditions in Vietnam in the framework of a Memorandum of Unterstanding between the Vietnam National Museum of Nature and MZUF] (MZUF).
Etymology: The specific epithet (with densely pubescent abdomen) is an adjective alluding to the dense setae on the abdominal sternites, as well as to the strong resemblance with Z. hirsutiventris (CHAMPION, 1927).
Description: Large species; body length 8.5–8.9 mm; length of forebody 3.6–3.7 mm. Coloration (Figs 11–12, 32, 49–50): body black with the posterior margin of the abdominal segment VII and all, or the posterior portion, of segment VIII dark reddish-brown; legs yellowish-brown with the profemora dark-brown and the meso- and metafemora bicoloured, basally yellowish and apically blackish-brown; antennae darkbrown to blackish with the apical antennomere reddish to reddish-brown; maxillary palpi brown with the apical palpomere yellowish.
Head (Fig. 32) distinctly transverse; punctation moderately coarse and rather dense, median dorsal portion extensively impunctate; pubescence long and sub-erect to erect, brown to black. Eyes moderately large, slightly longer than postocular region in dorsal view. Antenna (Figs 11–12) 2.4–2.5 mm long; antennomeres IV weakly oblong, V–VI weakly oblong to weakly transverse, VII–IX weakly to distinctly transverse, X approximately 1.5 times as broad as long, and XI short and of distinctly conical shape, much shorter than the combined length of IX and X.
Pronotum (Fig. 32) 1.11–1.13 times as broad as long and 1.33–1.36 times as broad as head, broadest slightly anterior to middle, weakly convex in cross-section; posterior angles obtusely marked; lateral margins straight or very weakly sinuate in posterior half in dorsal view; punctation rather fine and dense, regularly distributed; midline without distinct impunctate band; pubescence long and sub-erect to erect, brown to black; lateral and anterior margins with longer and distinctly erect black setae.
Elytra (Fig. 32) 0.85–0.89 times as long as pronotum; punctation dense and moderately coarse, regularly distributed, and defined; pubescence dense, long, and brown to black. Hind wings fully developed. Metatarsomere I approximately as long as the combined length of II–IV.
Abdomen (Fig. 49) approximately as broad as elytra, with moderately deep anterior impressions on tergites III–V; tergites III–V each with a transverse row of fine to moderately coarse non-setiferous punctures in anterior impressions, with several lateral setiferous punctures on either side, with 6–10 setiferous punctures at posterior margins, and with moderately sparse to moderately dense non-setiferous micropunctation on discs; tergites VI–VII with extensive, dense, and coarse non-setiferous punctures anteriorly, with slightly sparser non-setiferous punctures on remainder of discs, and with some setiferous punctures laterally and at posterior margins (Fig. 50); posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe; tergite VIII with dense and extensive non-setiferous punctation in posterior half and with dense and distinct setiferous punctation in posterior half, posterior margin convex, in the middle with very indistinct concavity; all sternites with long, dense, and sub-erect to erect pubescence in posterior portions (well visible from above).
♂: sternite VIII with convex posterior margin; median lobe of aedeagus approximately 0.9 mm long and shaped as in Figs 96–97; paramere (Fig. 98) 0.95 mm long, apical lobe short and with four long dark setae.
♀: posterior margin of sternite VIII shallowly concave in the middle.
Comparative notes: Based on the external and the male sexual characters, Z. hirtiventris undoubtedly belongs to the Z. hirtus group (see ASSING 2017). In habitus, coloration, and other external and sexual characters, this species strongly resembles Z. hirsutiventris from the Himalayan region. It is distinguished from this species by larger body size (Z. hirsutiventris: body length 6.5–7.5 mm; length of foreboedy 2.9–3.3 mm), paler coloration of antennomere XI (black in Z. hirsutiventris), less fine and more defined punctation of the elytra, slightly darker coloration of the legs, denser and more extensive non-setiferous punctation of the posterior abdominal tergites, and a larger median lobe of the aedeagus with a ventral process of slightly different shape (Z. hirsutiventris: median lobe approximately 0.8 mm long; ventral process apically longer, more acute, and less distinctly angled in lateral view).
These differences may be clear-cut, though not pronounced, in the material examined thus far, but at present only three specimens of Z. hirsutiventris and three of Z. hirtiventris are known. The possibility that material with intermediate characters conditions will be found in the future and that the currently known material of Z. hirsutiventris and Z. hirtiventris only represents extreme forms of the same species cannot be ruled out with certainty. At present, the distributions of both taxa are separated by a distance of more than 1100 km. This, in combination with the morphological differences observed, suggests that Z. hirsutiventris and Z. hirtiventris represent distinct species.
Distribution and natural history: The currently known distribution is confined to two localities in North Laos and North Vietnam. The altitudes range from approximately 1200 to 1810 m. The female paratype was sifted from litter and roots beneath bushes and small trees at the margin of a pasture. It was recorded as Zyras (Zyras) sp. 1 by ASSING (2015).
description: Published as part of Assing, Volker, 2017, On Zyras sensu strictu in the East Palaearctic and Oriental regions III, with a focus on the Southeast of Continental Asia and the Sunda Islands (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae: Lomechusini), pp. 213-246 in Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 67 (2) on pages 237-238, DOI: 10.21248/contrib.entomol.67.2.213-246, http://zenodo.org/record/5742339