Amaurodera kleebergi, Assing, 2006

Assing, V., 2006, A new species and new records ofAmaurodera Fauvel from Nepal (Coleóptera: Staphylinidae, Aleocharini), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 105 (4), pp. 155-160 : 156-158

Amaurodera kleebergi sp. n.

(Figs. 1-10)

Type material:

Holotype <5: Ost-Nepal, Rolwaling Himal / oberh. Simigaon, 2700-2800 m, 01.06.2000, leg. A. Kleeberg / Holotypus c? A maurodera kleebergi sp. n. det. V. Assing 2006 ( cAss). Paratypes: 7 exs.: same data as holotype ( cKle, cAss); 1 ex., Nepal, Rolwaling Himal, upper Simigau village, 27-2800 m, 1.6.2000, leg. J. Schmidt ( cKle) .

Description:

5.5-6.7 mm. Coloration: Body uniformly blackish brown to black, with the tarsi pale brown and often also the apical 1-4 antennomeres paler.

Head as long as wide; eyes of moderate size, distinctly projecting from lateral outline of head and approximately half the length of distance between posterior margin of eye and posterior constriction of head; microsculpture absent; puncturation very fine and very sparse; antennae very long and slender (Figs. 1-2).

Pronotum without sexual dimorphism; approximately 1.55 times as long as wide, with pronounced microreticulation and matt; median furrow distinct, not reaching anterior and posterior margins (Fig. 2).

Elytra approximately 0.40-0.45 times as long as pronotum; usually with distinct longitudinal impression between suture and lateral margin; puncturation very dense and illdefined; microsculpture absent (Fig. 3).

Abdomen about 1.20-1.25 times as wide as combined width of elytra; puncturation very sparse and very fine; microsculpture absent; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe; tergite VIII posteriorly serrate (Fig. 4), without appreciable sexual dimorphism.

c?: sternite VIII weakly transverse, its posterior margin strongly convex (Fig. 5); median lobe of aedeagus as in Figs. 6-8.

9: sternite VIII strongly transverse; its posterior margin weakly convex (Fig. 9); spermatheca as in Fig. 10.

Etymology: The species is dedicated to Andreas Kleeberg, who collected most of the type specimens.

Comparative notes:

Based on external characters (large body size, dark coloration, long and slender antennae and legs, absence of a sexual dimorphism of the pronotum), and the sexual characters (large and broad aedeagus, S-shaped spermatheca), A. kleebergi belongs to the silvana species group. In external morphology, it is highly similar to A. granata from eastern Nepal (Khandbari, Solukhumbu, and Sankhua Saba Districts). It is distinguished from this species especially by the denser and more ill-defined puncturation of the elytra, by the larger and in ventral view broader median lobe of the aedeagus, by the less slender and differently shaped ventral process of the aedeagus, and by the shorter duct of the spermatheca. For distinguishing characters separating A. kleebergi from other Himalayan representatives of the genus see the keys in Assing ( 2003, 2005).

Distribution and bionomics:

The absence of previous records and the restricted distributions of closely related congeners of the silvana group suggest that A. kleebergi may be an endemic of the Rolwaling Himal. The type specimens were sifted from debris and leaf litter at an altitude of 2700- 2800 m.