Three new species and additional records of Echiaster from Asia (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae) Author Assing, V. Author I, North text Linzer biologische Beiträge 2014 2014-12-19 46 2 1087 1096 journal article 55598 10.5281/zenodo.5307016 ec834b82-4c86-4d14-9a55-44b6a00f9d0e 0253-116X 5307016 Echiaster paulexcisus nov.sp. ( Figs 10-13 , Map 1 ) Type material: Holotype : " THAILAND : Chiang Mai , Doi Suthep , 1600 m , 4.XI.1985 , Burckhardt-Löbl / Holotypus Echiaster paulexcisus sp.n. det. V. Assing 2014" ( MHNG ) . Paratypes : 1 , 2 : same data as holotype ( MHNG , cAss ). Etymology: The specific epithet is an adjective composed of the Latin adverb paulum (slightly) and the adjective excisus. It refers to the posteriorly shallowly excised male sternite VIII. Description: Body length 5.0- 5.7 mm ; length of forebody 2.6-2.8 mm . Coloration: head and pronotum reddish to dark-brown; elytra dark-brown to blackish, each with a large and defined reddish, subcircular humeral spot; abdomen dark-brown to blackish; legs yellowish; antennae reddish, apically dark-yellowish. Head ( Fig. 10 ) 1.02-1.06 times as long as broad, widest across eyes, behind eyes convexly narrowed towards neck in dorsal view; posterior angles obsolete; punctation coarse, areolate, and extremely dense; interstices reduced to narrow ridges; dorsal surface matt. Eyes approximately 0.7-0.8 times as long as distance from posterior margin of eye to posterior constriction of head in dorsal view. Antenna 0.8-0.9 mm long. Pronotum ( Fig. 10 ) slender, 1.35-1.40 times as long as broad and 0.75-0.80 times as broad as head; median portion shallowly impressed in posterior two thirds, this impression with median elevation in posterior third of pronotum; punctation similar to that of head. Elytra ( Fig. 10 ) short, 0.65-0.70 times as long as pronotum, with somewhat depressed disc; humeral angles moderately pronounced; punctation very dense and granulose. Hind wings not examined, but apparently of reduced length. Abdomen as broad as, or slightly narrower than elytra, broadest at segment V; tergites III-V with coarse and dense punctation; tergites VI-VIII with dense and fine punctation; posterior margin of tergite VII strongly convex, with palisade fringe; tergite VIII distinctly oblong and with strongly convex posterior margin. : sternite VIII ( Fig. 11 ) distinctly oblong, posterior excision shallow and broad; aedeagus ( Figs 12-13 ) 0.65 mm long, ventral process basally broad (ventral view), apically semitransparent and strongly bent dorsad in lateral view. Comparative notes: Based on the male sexual characters, particularly the similar general morphology of the aedeagus, E. paulexcisus is closely allied to E. unicolor , from which it differs by the shallow posterior excision of the male sternite VIII and by the slightly larger aedeagus with a ventral process of different shape (apex basally broader in ventral view, apically membranous, and strongly bent dorsad in lateral view). Distribution and natural history:The type locality is situated to the west of Chiang Mai , North Thailand ( Map 1 ), at an altitude of 1600 m .