A remarkable new Awas Löbl from southern China (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Pselaphinae)

Abstract

A new distinctive species of the rare Oriental goniacerine genus Awas Löbl, Awas
gigas
sp. n., is described and illustrated, based on three males and fourteen females taken at the Daoyao Shan Natural Reserve in the southern Chinese province of Guangxi. All specimens were collected from colonies of the ant genus Pachycondyla F. Smith nesting in decomposing woods.

Full text

A remarkable new Awas Löbl from southern China... 153
A remarkable new Awas Löbl from southern China
(Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Pselaphinae)
Zi-Wei Yin1, Jia-Wei Shen1, Li-Zhen Li1
1Department of Biology, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Shanghai Normal University, 100 Guilin
Road, Shanghai, 200234, P. R. China
Corresponding author: Li-Zhen Li (lizhenli@shnu.edu.cn)
Academic editor: J. Klimaszewski|Received 8 July 2015|Accepted 3 September 2015|Published 23 September 2015
http://zoobank.org/DDB36C81-4441-4CA4-A8C6-0738A65F91A4
Citation: Yin Z-W, Shen J-W, Li L-Z (2015) A remarkable new Awas Löbl from southern China (Coleoptera,
Staphylinidae, Pselaphinae). ZooKeys 522: 153–158. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.522.6109
Abstract
A new distinctive species of the rare Oriental goniacerine genus Awas Löbl, A. gigas sp. n., is described
and illustrated, based on three males and fourteen females taken at the Daoyao Shan Natural Reserve in
the southern Chinese province of Guangxi. All specimens were collected from colonies of the ant genus
Pachycondyla F. Smith nesting in decomposing woods.
Keywords
Awas, new species, myrmecophile, Pachycondyla, Oriental region
Introduction
e genus Awas Löbl currently contains six described species scattered throughout the
Malay Peninsula, Taiwan, and continental China (Löbl 1994; Nomura 1995; Nomura
and Idris 2004; Yin, Li and Zhao 2010; Yin and Li 2012). After a discussion of the mor-
phological details and a phylogenetic analysis of the genus, Löbl (1994) placed Awas in
the goniacerine tribe Arnylliini, as a sister taxon of Harmophorus Motschulsky. Members
of Awas are unique in having a conspicuously elongate postocular region of the head,
and a relatively small, basally strongly constricted abdomen in contrast to the large body.
ZooKeys 522: 153–158 (2015)
doi: 10.3897/zookeys.522.6109
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Zi-Wei Yin et al. / ZooKeys 522: 153–158 (2015)
154
All Awas species are rare in scientic collections, known from one (A. giraa Löbl,
A. sinicus Yin & Li, A. kayan Yin & Li, A. loebli Yin & Li), four (A. rajah Nomura &
Idris), and ve (A. shunichii Nomura) specimens (additional records for A. rajah and
A. shunichii provided in Sugaya and Nomura 2003; Nomura and Idris 2005). Infor-
mation of the habitat of the known species are largely limited due to the inadequate
number of specimens: A. giraa, A. shunichii, A. sinicus, and A. kayan were collected
from leaf litter, and A. rajah and A. loebli were taken by ight intercept traps.
In July 2014, our team collected two males and two females of an additional spe-
cies from a colony of a Pachycondyla ant at the Dayao Shan Natural Reserve in the
southern Chinese province of Guangxi. With the knowledge of the host ant, a second
survey in the same locality was conducted in May 2015, and another thirteen speci-
mens (one male, twelve females) were found in several colonies of the same ant species.
Based on the above material, a new species is formally described, and compared to the
known congeners. is species is distinct in having the largest body size of more than
5.0 mm.
Material and methods
All material treated in this paper is housed in the Insect Collection of Shanghai Nor-
mal University (SNUC), Shanghai, China.
A slash is used to separate dierent labels. Authors’ notes are included in brackets.
Each type specimen bears a following label: ‘HOLOTYPE (red), or PARATYPE (yel-
low), ♂ (or ♀), Awas gigas sp. n., det. Zi-Wei Yin, 2015’.
e following abbreviations are applied: AL – length of the abdomen along the
midline; AnL – length of the antenna; AW – maximum width of the abdomen;
EL – length of the elytra along the sutural line; EW – maximum width of the elytra;
HL – length of the head from the anterior clypeal margin to the occipital constriction;
HW – width of the head across eyes; PL – length of the pronotum along the midline;
PW – maximum width of the pronotum. Length of the body is a combination of HL,
PL, EL, and AL.
Description
Awas gigas sp. n.
http://zoobank.org/87EE660C-C902-44AF-AA1C-DA3B20A4A817
Figs 1–3
Type material (3 ♂♂, 14 ♀♀). Holotype (in SNUC): CHINA: ♂, labeled ‘China:
Guangxi, Jinxiu Hsien (金秀县), Dayao Shan N. R. (大瑶山自然保护区), 16 km (16
公里), 24°08'11"N, 110°14'28"E, Fagus forest, rotten woods, colony of Pachycondyla
ant, 1100 m, 17.vii.2014, leg. Z. Peng’. Paratypes (in SNUC): CHINA: 1♂, 2 ♀♀,

A remarkable new Awas Löbl from southern China... 155
same label data as the holotype; 1 ♀, same locality, ‘16 km, 24°08'25"N, 110°15'38"E,
960 m, colony of Pachycondyla ants, 01.vi.2015, leg. J.-W. Shen & Z. Peng’; 1 ♂ (an-
tennomeres VII–VIII closely conjoint, deformed status), 11 ♀♀, also Dayao Shan N.
R., ‘Laoshan Station (老山林场), 24°07'02"N, 110°11'51"E, 950 m, Pachycondyla
ant, 31.v.2015, leg. J.-W. Shen & Z. Peng’.
Diagnosis. Body large-sized, length 4.79–5.12 mm; head with a greatly elongate
postocular region; pronotum relatively stout, basolateral margins moderately incised at
level of antebasal sulcus, lacking distinct setal tufts; elytra lacking basal fovea. Female
has a relatively larger abdomen than male.
Description. Male (Fig. 1A). BL 4.79–4.96 mm; body reddish-brown, mouth
parts and tarsi lighter. Head (Fig. 2B–C) strongly elongate, HL 1.24–1.35 mm, HW
0.59–0.61 mm, densely punctate and roughly sculptured; pubescence directed anteri-
orly; anterior frontal margin roundly protruding medially; postocular margins gradu-
ally narrowed toward occipital constriction; gula slightly depressed, foveae in longitu-
Figure 1. Dorsal habitus of Awas gigas. A Male B Female Scales: 1.0 mm.

Zi-Wei Yin et al. / ZooKeys 522: 153–158 (2015)
156
Figure 2. Diagnostic characters of male Awas gigas. A Right antenna B Head, in dorsal view C Same,
in lateral view D Pronotum E Elytral base F Aedeagus, in dorsal view G Same, in lateral view H Same, in
ventral view. Scales: A–D = 0.5 mm, E–H = 0.2 mm.

A remarkable new Awas Löbl from southern China... 157
dinal slit; eyes prominent, situated anterior head mid-length, each eye composed of
about 95 facets; maxillary palpi with palpomeres I short, II elongate, slightly expanded
apically, III nearly triangular, IV oval, with long, membranous apical palpal cone; AnL
2.13 mm, antennomeres IX–XI (Fig. 2A) wider than previous ones. Pronotum (Fig.
2D) longer than wide, PL 0.91–0.94 mm, PW 0.74–0.78 mm; nely punctate, with
T-shaped antebasal sulcus; posterior margin with band of transverse microsculpture.
Prosternum with dense admesal pubescence, pubescence on lateral margins sparser.
Elytra slightly longer than wide, EL 1.50–1.54 mm, EW 1.35–1.41 mm, widest at
basal two-fths, rounded laterally, narrowed basally and apically, lacking basal fovea
(Fig. 2E), with complete sutural striae, densely setose. Legs slender, profemora with
indistinct preapical denticle. Abdomen about as long as wide, AL 0.96–1.31 mm, AW
1.18–1.20 mm; tergite IV largest, basolateral margins densely setose. Aedeagus (Fig.
2F–H) symmetric, length 0.66–0.67 mm; median lobe truncate apically; endophallus
with hair-like structure; with ventrally curved hook-like parameres.
Figure 3. Habitat of Awas gigas. A General environment of the collection site B A decomposing wood
from where a colony of Pachycondyla was found C Inside of the ant colony.

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158
Female (Fig. 1B). Similar to male in general, size larger; with relatively larger abdo-
men; each eye composed of about 75 facets. Measurements: BL 4.89–5.12 mm, HL
1.26–1.28 mm, HW 0.56–0.57 mm, AnL 2.03–2.13 mm, PL 0.92–0.93 mm, PW
0.76–0.77 mm, EL 1.54–1.61 mm, EW 1.37–1.39 mm, AL 1.17–1.30 mm, AW
1.27–1.28 mm.
Comparative notes. At rst glance Awas gigas is very distinct from other species
in the genus by possessing a large body size. It shares with A. giraa and A. rajah the
lack of two pairs of setose tufts on the basolateral margins of the pronotum, and lack
of a distinct basal elytral fovea, but can be separated from both by the relatively stouter
pronotum. Awas kayan also lacks distinct pronotal setose tufts, but has each elytron
possessing a well-dened basal fovea, and the elytra are broader at basal third.
Biology. All individuals of Awas gigas were collected from colonies of a Pachycon-
dyla ant nesting inside or under decomposing woods in broad-leaved forests (Fig. 3).
Distribution. Southern China: Guangxi.
Etymology. e specic epithet indicates the large body size of the new species.
Acknowledgments
Jan Klimaszewski (Quebec, Canada) and one anonymous reviewer critically read the
manuscript. e present study was supported by the Science and Technology Commis-
sion of Shanghai Municipality (No. 15YF1408700) and National Science Foundation
of China (No. 31172134).
References
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