Anthobium scheerpeltzi, Shavrin, 2025

Shavrin, Alexey V., 2025, New species and records of Omaliinae MacLeay, 1925 (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) from the eastern Palaearctic region, Zootaxa 5601 (1), pp. 157-168 : 158-160

Anthobium scheerpeltzi sp. nov.

( Figs 1 , 4–5 )

Type material examined. Holotype (dissected) ♂ ( Fig. 1 ): ‘♂’ <printed>, ’45.’ <handwritten in black>, ‘ Oesterreichische | Karakorum Expedition | leg. Dr. E. PIFFL’ <printed>, ‘Haramosch – Massiv [printed] | Sabil [?], Quelmoos | Gesiebe’ <handwritten>, ‘ Lathrimaeum | karakorumshane- | nsis, spec. | (prope | rugosum | Champ.)’ <handwritten>, ‘HOLOTYPE | Anthobium | scheerpeltzi sp. nov. | Shavrin A. V. 2025 ’ <red, printed> ( NMW) .

Description. Measurements: HW: 0.67; HL: 0.42; OL: 0.17; LT: 0.05; AL: 1.20; PL: 0.55; PWmax: 0.97; PWmin: 0.85; ESL: 1.30; EW: 1.22; MTbL: 0.65; MTrL (holotype): 0.30 (MTrL 1–4: 0.17; MTrL 5: 0.13); AW: 1.21; AedL: 0.43; BL: 3.20.

Forebody moderately wide and convex ( Fig. 1 ). Head and abdomen reddish brown; pronotum, and elytra yellow-brown (lateral parts of pronotum slightly paler); antennomeres 5–11 brown; mouthparts, antennomeres 1–4, legs and paratergites yellowish. Head with distinct microsculpture: fine and transverse in apical part of clypeus, coarser in middle portion between apical margins of eyes, finer and irregular in middle between level of basal third of eyes, infraorbital portions with dense and coarse isodiametric sculpture; neck with dense and fine isodiametric microreticulation; medioapical and mediobasal parts of pronotum with fine transverse meshes; scutellum and elytra without microsculpture; abdominal tergites with dense sculpture: isodiametric on abdominal tergites IV–V and transverse on tergites VI–VIII. Middle portion of head with dense and fine punctation, with interspaces between punctures between eyes about as long as one-two nearest punctures, punctation on infraorbital portion denser and coarser; visible part of neck without punctures; pronotum with moderately fine and dense punctation, distinctly sparser than that in middle part of head, finer in medioapical part, larger and sparser in lateral portion, and sparser in mediobasal third; scutellum with several fine punctures; punctation of elytra about as that on pronotum, denser and coarser around scutellum, finer and sparser along suture, larger and deeper in medioapical portion; abdominal tergites without visible punctation.

Head 1.5 times as broad as long, with slightly elevated middle part and infraorbital portions, with wide semicircular impression in front of ocelli, and deep and wide anteriomedian depressions; anteocellar foveae missing; each anterior portion between antennal insertion and anterior margin of eye with moderately deep semicircular notch; postocular ridge acute, with distance between basal margin of eye and ridge about as long as three nearest ommatidia. Median surface of head with distinct elevations: irregular, transverse or diagonal in middle, and coarser and diagonal on infraorbital portions. Eyes large, strongly convex. Ocelli large, located slightly below level of posterior margin of eyes, distance between ocelli 1.4 times as long as distance between ocellus and posterior margin of eye. Apical maxillary palpomere about two and a half times as long as preceding segment, from basal part gradually narrowed toward subacute apex. Antennae reaching basal part of elytra when reclined, with distinctly elongate antennomeres 1–8 and slightly elongate 9–10; basal antennomere wide, about two and a half times as long as broad, 2 distinctly shorter and narrower than basal antennomere, 3 slightly longer and narrower than 2, 4–5 shorter than 3, 6–7 shorter than 5, 8 shorter than 7, 9–10 distinctly shorter than 8, apical antennomere 1.3 times as long as 10, from middle gradually narrowed toward subacute apex.

Pronotum 1.7 times as broad as long, 1.4 times as broad as head, widest in middle, more narrowed posteriad than anteriad; apical portions widely rounded, distinctly protruded apicad; laterobasal margins widely concave in front of obtuse hind angles; middle portion evenly elevated, with fine and wide semicircular depression in mediobasal third; lateral edges with irregular acute crenulation; lateral portions widely impressed and slightly explanate, with deep moderately large oval pits slightly above middle.

Elytra slightly longer than broad, gradually broadened posteriad, distinctly more than twice as long as pronotum, reaching apical margin of abdominal tergite IV; middle surface of each elytron with longitudinal elevations between punctures; lateral portions moderately narrow and indistinctly explanate; lateral edges with fine crenulation, indistinct in middle. Hind wings fully developed.

Legs moderately long and slender, with dense and long setae on outer and inner margins of tibiae; metatarsi twice shorter than metatibia.

Abdomen convex, slightly narrower than elytra, with a pair of small oval tomentose spots in middle of abdominal tergite V, with wide intersegmental membranes between abdominal tergites IV–V and narrow palisade fringe on margin of tergite VII.

Male. Apical margin of abdominal tergite VIII straight. Apical margin of abdominal sternite VIII widely sinuate. Aedeagus moderately narrow, with wide median lobe slightly narrowed toward truncate apex; parameres wide, exceeding apex of median lobe, each broadened in preapical part and from apical third gradually narrowed apically, with three short apical setae; internal sac short and weakly sclerotized ( Fig. 4 ). Lateral aspect of the aedeagus as in Fig. 5 .

Female unknown.

Comparative notes. Regarding the general shape of the body and the presence of distinct crenulation on lateral edges of the pronotum, A. scheerpeltzi sp. nov. belongs to the fusculum group ( Shavrin & Smetana 2018). Based on the general shape of the body and the morphology of the aedeagus, it is similar to A. wittmeri Shavrin, 2023 , recently described from Kashmir ( Shavrin 2023), from which it can be distinguished by the longer antennomeres 9–10 and elytra, coarser sculpture of the infraorbital portions, the lack of anteocellar foveae, and narrower apical parts of the median lobe and parameres.

Natural history. The holotype was collected by sifting moss near a spring.

Distribution. Anthobium scheerpeltzi sp. nov. is known only from the type locality in Haramosh Mts, Pakistan.

Etymology. Patronymic; the species is dedicated to the memory of Otto Scheerpeltz (1888–1975).

Figures

FIGURES 1–3. Habitus: 1–Anthobium scheerpeltzi (holotype), 2–Mannerheimia feldmanni (holotype), 3– Coryphium loebli (Nepal). Scale bar: 1.0 mm.

FIGURES 4–9. Aedeagus (4–5: Anthobium scheerpeltzi (holotype), 6–7: Mannerheimia feldmanni (holotype), 8–9: Coryphium loebli (Nepal)): 4, 6, 8–parameral view, 5, 7, 9–lateral view. Scale bar: 0.1 mm.