© Biologiezentrum Linz/Austria; download unter www.biologiezentrum.at Linzer biol. Beitr. 43/1 267-270 25.7.2011 The first species of Leptusa from Tsushima, Japan (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae) V. ASSING Abstract: Leptusa (Eospisalia) lackneri nov.sp., the first representative of the genus from Tsushima and the twelfth Leptusa species from Japan, is described and illustrated. K ey w ords: Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Aleocharinae, Leptusa, Japan, Tsushima, taxonomy, new species. Introduction The speciose aleocharine genus Leptusa KRAATZ 1856 is represented in the Palaearctic region by more than 350 species and numerous subspecies (ASSING 2009). Most of them are confined to the West Palaearctic. The highest diversity in the East Palaearctic has been recorded from the Himalaya, continental China, and Taiwan (ASSING 2010). The Leptusa fauna of Japan, in contrast, is relatively poor. According to a checklist by KISHIMOTO (2008), ten species – one of them represented by two subspecies – were known, eight of them from Honshu, one from Shikoku, and one from Kyushu. One spe- cies, however, was omitted in the checklist, L. dissimulans ASSING 2004 from Honshu, so that the Japanese Leptusa fauna previously included eleven species in five subgenera. The subgenus Eospisalia PACE 1982 was represented by four species (plus one subspe- cies), three of them from Honshu and one from Shikoku. In staphylinid material kindly made available to me by Tomáš Lackner (currently Sapporo) a male of an undescribed apterous Leptusa species from Tsushima was discov- ered. It is the first representative of the genus to become known from this island, which is situated in the Korea Strait, approximately halfway between Kyushu and South Korea. It is separated from Kyushu by more than 80 km and from southern Honshu by more than 130 km. Material and methods The holotype is deposited in the author´s collection. The morphological studies were conducted using a Stemi SV 11 microscope (Zeiss © Biologiezentrum Linz/Austria; download unter www.biologiezentrum.at 268 Germany) and a Jenalab compound microscope (Carl Zeiss Jena). A digital camera (Nikon Coolpix 995) was used for the photographs. Head length was measured from the anterior margin of the clypeus to the posterior mar- gin of the head, elytral length at the suture from the apex of the scutellum to the posterior margin of the elytra. The length of the median lobe of the aedeagus was measured from the apex of the ventral process to the base of the capsule. Leptusa (Eospisalia) lackneri nov.sp. (Figs 1-10) T y p e material: Holotype (cid:1): "Japan - Tsushima, Tatera-yama, primary forest, 7.IV.2009, T. Lackner / Holotypus (cid:1) Leptusa lackneri sp.n. det. V. Assing 2010". Descr i pt i on: Small species, body length 2.2 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 1. Colora- tion: body dark-reddish, with the abdominal segment VI and the anterior half of segment VII infuscate; legs dark-yellowish; antennae reddish-yellow. Head (Fig. 2) weakly transverse; punctation dense and rather coarse; interstices with microsculpture (Fig. 3). Eyes approximately as long as postocular portion in dorsal view. Antenna (Fig. 4) gradually incrassate apically; antennomere IV weakly transverse, V-X of gradually increasing width and increasingly transverse; X approximately twice as wide as long. Pronotum (Fig. 2) 1.3 times as broad as long and 1.2 times as wide as head, widest slightly before middle, distinctly tapering anteriad and posteriad; posterior angles ob- tusely marked; punctation and microsculpture similar to those of head (Fig. 3). Elytra short, approximately 0.65 times as long and about as wide as pronotum (Fig. 2); humeral angles weakly marked; punctation more distinct than that of head and pronotum, somewhat granulose; interstices with microsculpture, but more glossy than those of head and pronotum (Fig. 5). Hind wings reduced. Abdomen somewhat broader than elytra, widest at segment V; punctation moderately dense and fine; interstices with shallow isodiametric microreticulation visible only at high magnification, glossy (more so than elytra); posterior margin of tergite VII with extremely fine, barely visible rudiment of a palisade fringe. (cid:1): sternite VII unmodified; tergite VIII without modifications, posterior margin weakly concave in the middle; sternite VIII posteriorly very obtusely angled in the middle (Fig. 6); median lobe of aedeagus (Figs 7-9) small, approximately 0.25 mm long; paramere with short apical lobe (Fig. 10). (cid:2): unknown. E t y mo l o g y : The species is dedicated to Tomáš Lackner, specialist of Histeridae, who collected the holotype, also in gratitude for the continuous supply of Staphylinidae from Japan. Co mp ar at i v e n o t es: The new species is distinguished from other Japanese representatives of the subgenus Eospisalia as follows: in L. taichii KISHIMOTO 2008, the ventral process, the base of the capsule, and the apical internal structures of the aedeagus are of different shape, and the basal portion of the crista apicalis is more strongly produced; © Biologiezentrum Linz/Austria; download unter www.biologiezentrum.at 269 Figs 1-10: Leptusa lackneri nov.sp. (holotype): (1) habitus; (2) forebody; (3) posterior median portion of head and median portion of pronotum; (4) antenna; (5) sutural portion of elytra; (6) male sternite VIII; (7) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view; (8) internal structures of median lobe in ventral view; (9) apical portion of median lobe in ventral view; (10) paramere. Scale bars: 1: 1.0 mm; 2-5: 0.2 mm; 6-10: 0.1 mm. © Biologiezentrum Linz/Austria; download unter www.biologiezentrum.at 270 the aedeagus of L. kitazawai (SAWADA 1970) is rather similar, but more slender and more broadly curved between crista apicalis and the base of the ventral process (lateral view), the ventral process is relatively longer and more slender, and the base of the capsule is of different shape; moreover, the body is somewhat broader and larger (material of L. kitazawai from several localities in Honshu examined); in L. ishizuchiensis PACE 1982, the aedeagus has a long and conspicuous flagellum in the internal sac, the crista apicalis is much more pronounced, and the ventral process and the sclerotized internal structures are of completely different shape. in L. cornigera ASSING 2002, the wings are longer than the pronotum, the hind wings are fully developed, the ventral process of the aedeagus is more strongly sinuate in lateral view, and the internal structures are of different shape. For illustrations of the compared species see PACE (1989), KISHIMOTO (2008), and ASSING (2002). Di st r i but i on: The holotype was collected in a primary forest in the Tatera- yama, a mountain in the south of Tsushima island, Japan. Zusammenfassung Leptusa (Eospisalia) lackneri nov.sp., die erste Art der Gattung von Tsushima und die zwölfte Art in Japan, wird beschrieben und abgebildet. References ASSING V. (2002): New species and records of Leptusa KRAATZ from the Palaearctic region (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae, Aleocharinae). — Linzer biologische Beiträge 34 (2): 971- 1019. ASSING V. (2009): New species, new synonymies, and additional records of Leptusa from Turkey and Iran (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae). — Linzer biologische Beiträge 41 (2): 1285-1305. ASSING V. (2010): Three new species of Leptusa from Yunnan, with a catalogue of the Leptusa species recorded from China and Taiwan (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae). — Linzer biologische Beiträge 42 (2): 1155-1167. KISHIMOTO T. (2008): A new apterous species of the genus Leptusa (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae) from Mt. Ôdaigahara, the Kii Peninsula, Honshu, Japan. — Special Publications of the Japan Coleopterological Society, Osaka 2: 151-155. PACE R. (1989): Monografia del genere Leptusa KRAATZ (Coleoptera Staphylinidae). — Memorie del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Verona (II° Serie), Sezione Scienze della Vita (A: Biologica) 8: 1-307. Author´s address: Dr. Volker ASSING Gabelsbergerstr. 2 D-30163 Hannover, Germany E-mail: [email protected]