A revision of Sunius XV. Six new species from Kyrgyzstan and the Himalaya, and additional records (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae) Author Assing, Volker text Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 2015 2015-12-21 65 2 287 295 https://www.contributions-to-entomology.org/article/view/1884 journal article 2516 10.21248/contrib.entomol.65.2.287-295 d90577e5-63ce-465c-a7de-f23e166ad4fe 0005-805X 5370974 Sunius marratus spec. nov. ( Figs 7–10 ) Type material : Holotype ♂ : “ INDIA W. Bengal , Darjeeling distr. , Ghoom–Lopchu 2000 m , BesuchetLöbl 14.X.78 / Holotypus ♂ Sunius marratus spec. nov. det. V. Assing 2015” ( MHNG ) . Paratypes : 3 ♀♀ : same data as holotype ( MHNG , cAss) ; 1 ♀ , 1 ex. without abdomen: same data, but “ 12.X.78 ” ( MHNG ) ; 1 ♀ : “ INDIA W. Bengal, Darjeeling distr. , Ghoom 1500 m 15.X.78 , Besuchet-Löbl ” ( MHNG ) ; 1 ♂ : “ INDIA W. Bengal, Darjeeling distr. , Tonglu 3100 m 16.X.78 , Besuchet-Löbl ” (cAss) . Etymology : The specific epithet is an adjective derived from the Latin noun marra (hoe) and alludes to the shape of the internal structures of the aedeagus. Description : Body length 3.0–4.0 mm; length of forebody 1.6–1.7 mm . Coloration: body black; legs pale-brown with slightly darker femora; antennae pale-reddish. Head ( Fig. 7 ) as long as broad or weakly transverse, tapering posteriad in posterior half; punctation conspicuously coarse and dense in anterior dorsal portion, very sparse and less coarse in posterior dorsal portion; interstices without microsculpture. Eyes enormous and bulging, more than twice as long as postocular region in dorsal view. Pronotum ( Fig. 7 ) weakly oblong and slightly narrower than head; punctation coarse and dense; midline moderately broadly impunctate. Elytra ( Fig. 7 ) short, approximately 0.65 times as long as pronotum; punctation dense, irregular, and ill-defined. Hind wings completely reduced. Abdomen slightly broader than elytra; punctation fine, moderately dense anteriorly, gradually becoming less dense towards posterior tergites; interstices with shallow microsculpture; posterior margin of tergite VII without palisade fringe. ♂ : sternite VII without distinct modifications; sternite VIII ( Fig. 8 ) approximately as broad as long, pubescence unmodified, posterior excision of subtriangular shape, its depth approximately one-tenth the length of sternite; aedeagus ( Figs 9–10 ) 0.45 mm long; ventral process stout and of distinctive shape; internal sac with a pair of long and similarly shaped sclerotized structures. Comparative notes : Based on the external (coarse punctation, reduced elytra and hind wings, enormous eyes) and the male sexual characters (aedeagus with a pair of conspicuously long sclerotized structures in internal sac), S. marratus belongs to the S. manasluensis group, which is distributed in the Himalaya and China , and which previously included eight species: S. manasluensis ASSING, 2010 ( Nepal : Manaslu), S. galiberti (Central Nepal : Phulchoki), S. turgescens ASSING, 2010 ( China : Yunnan ), S. macrops ASSING, 2010 ( China : Yunnan ), S. cursor ASSING, 2011 ( Nepal ) , S. baculatus ASSING, 2011 (East Nepal ), S. cameroni (Darjeeling) , and S. bouddha (COIFFAIT, 1978) ( Bhutan ) . The aedeagus of S. marratus is most similar to that of S. bouddha , but distinguished by the slightly different shape of the ventral process and particularly by the distinctly shorter and differently shaped internal structures. For illustrations of S. bouddha see ASSING (2011b) , for those of other species of the S. manasluensis group see ASSING (2010 , 2011a ). Distribution and natural history : The type specimens were collected in three geographically close localities in Darjeeling district, West Bengal (North India ), at altitudes of 1500–3100 m .