Lathrobium (Lathrobium) newtoni sp. n.

(Figs. 1–10; Map 1)

Type material. Holotype: Turkey: ♂, “TR. Yozgat province, Kadışehri, Develi Tepesi, 1715 m, 40°05'03"N, 35°53'38"E, 06.IV.2018, leg. Yağmur, Örgel & Yaman. / Holotypus ♂, Lathrobium (Lathrobium) newtoni sp. n. det. S. Anlaş 2018” (AZMM). Paratypes: 6♂, 6♀, same data as holotype (AZMM) .

Description. Habitus as in Figure 1. Body 5.1-5.7 mm long. Colouration: forebody uniformly reddish brown, abdominal segments III–VI blackish or at least darker than forebody, abdominal segments VII–X reddish brown; appendages somewhat lighter than body.

Head oblong, approximately 1.15 times as long as wide (Figs. 1-2); integument with shallow fine microreticulation; punctation relatively coarse and moderately dense in lateral areas, sparser in median portion, interstices on average slightly wider than diameter of punctures in lateral areas and distinctly wider in median dorsal area; pubescence yellowish and very rare; eyes reduced, slightly protruding from lateral contours of head (Fig. 3). Antennae long and slender (Fig. 1), approximately 1.8 mm long, all antennomeres distinctly longer than broad.

Pronotum, approximately 1.35-1.40 times as long as wide (Figs. 1-2), slightly narrower than head (0.95 times as broad as head), punctation similar to that of head, but slightly denser; microsculpture absent.

Elytra distinctly shorter and slightly narrower than pronotum (Figs. 1-2), punctation fine and well-defined; microsculpture absent; hind wings completely reduced.

Abdomen slightly wider than elytra (Fig. 1), approximately 1.1 times as wide as elytra, widest at segment VII; punctation fine, well-defined and not very dense; all tergites with fine interstices; posterior margin of tergite VII without palisade fringe.

♂: sternite VII distinctly modified, with semi-circular median impression and with broadly concave posterior margin, median impression bearing short, stout and black setae (Fig. 4), posterior margin of sternite VIII with triangular median emargination, along median line without pubescence (Fig. 5). Aedeagus large (Figs. 6-7), approximately 0.9 mm long, ventral process stout and long, apical sclerotized structure of internal sac shaped like a basally curved and apically straight spine in lateral view (Fig. 6).

♀: posterior margin of tergite VIII distinctly convex (Fig. 8); sternite VIII increasingly narrowed, with convex projection, and fine and dense micro-pubescence in median posterior area (Fig. 9); tergite IX separated in the middle, lateral processes long, with acute spine-like extension apically; posterior margin of tergite X densely and finely micropubescent (Fig. 10).

Comparative notes. The new species is the sixth endemic microphthalmous representative of the genus to be recorded from Turkey. The new species is distinguished from all other congeners in Turkey by the distinctive morphology of the aedeagus in both ventral and lateral view. It is additionally separated as follows:

From L. bodemeyeri Bernhauer (Figs. 11-17) by smaller size (in L. bodemeyeri: body length average 6 mm), lighter colouration, smaller emargination, the different shape of female sternite VIII, and also by the different shape of the apical sclerotized structure of the internal sac in the aedeagus (In L. bodemeyeri: apical sclerotized structure of internal sac shaped like a hook apically in lateral view).

From L. uncinatum Assing (Figs. 18-24) by the lighter colouration of the forebody, and by the different shape of the apical sclerotized structure of the internal sac in the aedeagus ( L. uncinatum: apical sclerotized structure of internal sac shaped like a barb apically in lateral view).

From L. paphlagonicum Assing by lighter colouration of the forebody, less fine abdominal punctation, and by the different shape of female sternite VIII, and by the different shape of the apical sclerotized structure of the internal sac of the aedeagus ( L. paphlagonicum: apical sclerotized structure of internal sac shaped like a hook apically in lateral view).

From L. brignolii Bordoni, L. distortum Assing and L. deforme Assing by less reduced eyes ( L. brignolii: eyes completely reduced, without ommatidia or pigmentation; L. distortum Assing and L. deforme: eyes very small, barely visible in dorsal view, without distinct ommatidia, but with pigmentation), and by the completely different sexual characters.

For descriptions and illustrations of the above species, see Figures (11-24), Bordoni (1980) and Assing (2001, 2007).

Etymology. The species is dedicated to Dr. Alfred F. Newton (Chicago), a specialist on Staphylinidae, who has carried out important entomological research on the family Staphylinidae in the world.

Distribution and bionomics. The species was collected at only one locality in Yozgat province in central northern Anatolia. The type specimens were collected under stones in grassland and sifted from leaf litter at an altitude of about 1715 m.