Zyras (Zyras) kraatzi SCHUBERT 1908

Zyras (Zyras) kraatzi SCHUBERT, 1908

(Figs 1, 42, 79, 117–120, Map 1)

Zyras kraatzi SCHUBERT, 1908: 609 f.

Myrmedonia (Zyras) ignicauda CHAMPION, 1927: 245 f.

Type material examined: Syntype ♀: “ Kulu 7 / sg. Zyras, Kraatzi m. type. / Typus / Kraatzi m. / Syntypus Zyras kraatzi Schubert, 1908, labelled by MNHUB 2016” (MNB).

Additional material examined: Nepal: 1 ex., Annapurna, Bargachap, 2100 m, beaten from vegetation, 22.VIII.1995, leg. Jäger (SMTD).

Comment: Zyras kraatzi was described based on an unspecified number of syntypes from “Kulu, Himalaya, ca. 2000 m ” (SCHUBERT 1908). The original description of Z. ignicauda is based on an unspecified number of syntypes from “Jaunsar, Chakrata Division, U.P.” (CHAMPION 1927). Zyras ignicauda was placed in synonymy with Z. kraatzi by CAMERON (1939a). Only one syntype of Z. kraatzi, a female, was located in the collections of MNB.

Redescription: Species of moderate size; body length 5.5–6.5 mm; length of forebody 2.5–2.9 mm. Coloration (Figs 1, 42, 79): body black, except for the bright-reddish abdominal segments VII–X; legs pale-yellowish; antennae blackish-brown to black, with antennomeres I–II indistinctly paler and XI dark-yellowish to reddish; maxillary palpi yellowish to pale-brown, with the apical palpomere yellowish.

Head (Fig. 42) distinctly transverse, broadly impunctate along middle; punctation in lateral dorsal portions rather fine and sparse. Eyes distinctly longer than postocular region in dorsal view. Antenna (Fig. 1) 2.0– 2.1 mm long and moderately massive; antennomeres IV approximately as long as broad or weakly transverse, VI–X of gradually increasing width and increasingly transverse, X approximately 1.5 times as broad as long, and XI as long as, or slightly longer than the combined length of IX and X.

Pronotum (Fig. 42) weakly transverse, 1.08–1.1 times as broad as long and 1.32–1.40 times as broad as head, broadest near anterior angles, distinctly tapering posteriad; lateral margins straight or weakly convex in posterior half (dorsal view); punctation sparse and irregularly distributed; midline broadly impunctate; lateral margins each with four long brown setae.

Elytra (Fig. 42) approximately 0.8 times as long as pronotum; punctation coarse, rather dense near anterior margins and scutellum, rather sparse elsewhere; scutellum with rather coarse and dense punctation anteriorly, impunctate in posterior portion. Hind wings present. Metatarsomere I approximately as long as the combined length of II–IV, or nearly so.

Abdomen (Fig. 79) slightly narrower than elytra, with rather shallow anterior impressions on tergites III–V; anterior impressions of tergites III–V each with few fine non-setiferous punctures in the middle, laterally impunctate or nearly so; tergites III–IV with a lateral setiferous puncture on either side and with four setiferous punctures at posterior margins; tergite V with a lateral setiferous puncture on either side and with six setiferous punctures at posterior margin; tergite VI with a narrow transverse band of non-setiferous punctures anteriorly, with a lateral setiferous puncture on either side, and with six setiferous punctures at posterior margin; tergite VII with a narrow transverse band of non-setiferous punctures anteriorly and with two transverse series of 6–8 setiferous punctures posteriorly, posterior margin with palisade fringe; tergite VIII (Fig. 119) with two transverse series of long black setae near posterior margin, posterior margin concavely excised in the middle, on either side of this concavity with a weakly pronounced triangular projection.

♂: sternite VIII (Fig. 120) with strongly convex posterior margin; median lobe of aedeagus (Figs 117–118) approximately 0.8 mm long; ventral process long in relation to basal capsule; paramere approximately as long as median lobe, with rather short and slender apical lobe.

♀: posterior margin of sternite VIII weakly concave in the middle.

Comparative notes: Among the species of the Z. kraatzi group, this species is characterized by the coloration of the abdomen and the legs, sparse and irregular punctation of the pronotum, posteriorly rather sparse punctation of the elytra, the presence of a distinct transverse band of nonsetiferous punctation near the anterior margins of tergites VI and VII, and above all by the shape of the median lobe of the aedeagus.

Distribution and natural history: Confirmed records are known from Himalachal Pradesh (type locality of Z. kraatzi), Uttar Pradesh (type locality of Z. ignicauda) and Uttarakhand (ASSING 2016a) in Northwest India, and Central Nepal (Map 1). PACE (1987a) recorded Z. kraatzi from Nepal, based on a female collected in “Lamjung Distr., Marsyandi, 1580 m ”. In view of the presence of other similar species distributed in Nepal and of frequent misidentifications, however, this record requires confirmation. Zyras kraatzi appears to be much rarer than the sympatric Z. pindarae. The nontype specimen indicated above was collected by beating vegetation.