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.