Masuria (Oncosomechusa) brevipennis sp. n.

Assing, Volker, 2006, New species and records of Masuria Cameron, with a key to species, Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 56, pp. 141-154 : 149-150

Masuria (Oncosomechusa) brevipennis sp. n.

(Figs. 33-38)

Type material:

Holotype 9: China (N-Yunnan) Zhongdian Co., 55 km N Zhongdian, 28°19.8N, 99°45.7E, 3800 m (primary mixed forest, Rhodod., dead wood, leaf litter, mushrooms, moss), 18.VIII.2003, Wrase [07] / Holotypus 9 M asuria brevipen n is sp. n. det. V. Assing 2006 (cAss ).

Description:

2.7 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 33. Body castaneous to dark brown, with the abdominal apex (segment VIII), the legs and the base of the antennae distinctly paler, yellowish brown to rufous.

Head wedge-shaped, with moderately dense, shallow, but well-defined puncturation; interstices narrower than average diameter of punctures and without microsculpture; eyes small (Fig. 35), shorter than postocular region in dorsal view and not projecting from lateral outline ofhead (Fig. 34). Antennae short; antennomere III about 1.5 times as long as wide, IV approximately as long as wide, V weakly transverse, V-X increasingly transverse and of increasing width, VIII-X approximately twice as wide as long (Fig. 36).

Pronotum 1.25 times as wide as head and 1.30 times as wide as long; maximal width approximately in the middle; lateral margins simply convex in dorsal view; posterior angles weakly marked; puncturation similar to that of head, but slightly denser and finer; interstices without microsculpture and shining (Fig. 34).

Elytra approximately 1.2 times as wide and 0.5 times as long as pronotum; puncturation similar to that of pronotum; interstices without microsculpture and shiny (Fig. 34). Hind wings completely reduced. Legs of moderate length, metatarsomere I approximately as long as the combined length of II and III.

Abdomen approximately as wide as elytra, widest at segment V; puncturation fine, very dense on tergites III-VI and slightly less dense on tergite VII; interstices with distinct microsculpture; posterior margin of tergite VII without palisade fringe; posterior margin of tergite VIII distinctly convex.

<5: unknown.

9: sternite VIII transverse, middle of posterior margin weakly concave in middle (Fig. 37); spermatheca as in Fig. 38.

Etymology: The name (Lat., adj.) refers to the remarkably short elytra.

Comparative notes:

The species is readily distinguished from all other Chinese representatives of the genus by its extremely short elytra alone. From M. ch in en sis and M. y u n n a n ica, the only other species of the subgenus O ncom ecbusa known to occur in China, it is additionally separated by the shorter antennae, the shorter legs with shorter tarsi, the more slender pronotum (in relation to head), as well as by smaller body size.

Distribution and bionomics:

The known distribution is confined to the type locality some 50 km to the north of Zhongdian , northern Yunnan, where the holotype was discovered in a mixed primary forest at an altitude of 3800 m.