identifier	taxonID	type	CVterm	format	language	title	description	additionalInformationURL	UsageTerms	rights	Owner	contributor	creator	bibliographicCitation
03E8B8216E78C34EC8BFF893FD487DE3.text	03E8B8216E78C34EC8BFF893FD487DE3.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Leonesiella tetratriches Fresneda & Ortuño & Arribas & Salgado 2026	<div><p>Leonesiella tetratriches Fresneda &amp; Salgado sp. nov.</p><p>(Figs 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 18, 20, 22, 24)</p><p>Type locality: Spain, <a href="https://tb.plazi.org/GgServer/search?materialsCitation.longitude=-6.3166666&amp;materialsCitation.latitude=42.85" title="Search Plazi for locations around (long -6.3166666/lat 42.85)">León</a>, Salientes, camino Prao Viejo, 42°51'N 6°19'W, 1,462 m.</p><p>Holotype: ♂ (CFL), " HISP-LE Salientes / camino Prao Viejo / 26-6-23 / 27-7-24, 1462 m / Ortuño et al. leg.", " pitfall EMS-08 / 1462 m ", "HOLOTYPUS / Leonesiella / tetratriches sp. nov. / Fresneda &amp; Salgado det., 2025" [red label]; genitalia glued on transparent card mounted to same pin as holotype . Paratypes: 4 ♂♂, 6 ♀♀, same data as holotype; 4 ♂♂, 9 ♀♀, same data as holotype but " 17-06-22 / 23-06-23 / Ortuño et al., leg.", " pitfall EMS-08 / 1462 m "; 2 ♂♂, 14 ♀♀ and 1 abdomen with same data as holotype, but " 26-06-23 / 27-07-24 / Ortuño et al., leg.", " pitfall EMS-08 / 1462 m "; 7 ♂♂, 7 ♀♀ and 2 abdomina, with same data as holotype, but " 17-06-22 / 23-06-23 / Ortuño et al., leg.", " pitfall EMS-07 / 1439 m "; 4 ♂♂, 8 ♀♀, with same data as holotype, but " 23-06-23 / 22-07-24 / Ortuño et al., leg.", " pitfall EMS-07 / 1439 m "; 2 ♀♀, " La Vallina del Valle / Salientes (León) / 22-07-23 / 24-07-24 / Ortuño et al., leg.", " pitfall EMS-24 / 1372 m "; All paratypes provided with a red label: "PARATYPUS / Leonesiella / tetratriches sp. nov. / Fresneda &amp; Salgado det., 2025" (CAF, CFL, CPMG, COA, CVO, CZULE) .</p><p>Description of the holotype</p><p>Small troglobiomorphic Leptodirini, 1.6 mm long, oval in shape (Fig. 6), convex, depigmented, orange in colour, with short pubescence, disordered punctation, smooth pronotum with very small punctation and elytra with rough punctation, short appendages, wingless and eyeless.</p><p>Head with complete occipital carina. Antennae very short, as long as half-length of elytral suture; club well differentiated with eighth, ninth and tenth antennomeres transverse; eleventh antennomere longest and thickest, almost two and a half times longer than tenth (see Table 1).</p><p>Pronotum transverse, as wide as elytra and with evenly curved lateral margins.</p><p>Elytra short and broad, widest at base and with margins regularly curved to rounded apex; dehiscent tips; without parasutural stria.</p><p>Legs short and gracile; protarsi pentamerous, tarsomeres slightly dilated; mesotibiae somewhat curved, metatibiae straight.</p><p>Mesoventral keel (Fig. 7) high, with rounded and slightly serrated vertex. Lower edge narrow, also serrated and without groove; tip slightly protruding beyond mesocoxal cavity.</p><p>Metaventrite suture (Fig. 8) regularly curved in its anterior half, delimiting a small semicircular area; second half contiguous with edge of mesocoxal cavity.</p><p>Metatergal apparatus (Fig. 10) with metascutum wings broad and about twice as long as wide; alacrista apophysis moderately developed with rounded apices.</p><p>Metendosternite (Fig. 12) with furcal arms slightly longer than trunk, both tapering gradually to acute apex, arched and without terminal apophysis; width of posterior lamina decreasing sharply towards apex with concave edge in median area. Short trunk, as long as wide, with median keel diverging posteriorly.</p><p>Median lobe of the aedeagus. Dorsal view (Fig. 14): short, of uniform width throughout its length and with broadly rounded apex; lateral view (Fig. 18): curved from base to apex, with curvature particularly pronounced in centre of ventral side; apical part straight and tapered.</p><p>Endophallus (Fig. 15) with thick spines in apical zone of reinforcement bands. Stylet slightly sclerotised, with large basal cup and with thickened and sclerotised lateral margins; stylet extending between two bands of spiny tissue.</p><p>Parameres (Fig. 20) thin, of equal width throughout their length, as long as median lobe, without distinct club and with four setae inserted at apex.</p><p>Females: Slightly more robust than males, with slightly more convex elytra; protarsi tetramerous and narrow.</p><p>Female uroventrite VIII (Fig. 22) with a long, thin spiculum.</p><p>Spermathecal complex (Fig. 24) with an elongated spermatheca and slightly dilated basal and apical lobes, almost equal in width; elongated basal area extending into enlarged area of spermatic duct; small, spherical apical lobe; well-differentiated hyaline median region and short spermatic duct, between one and two times longer than spermatheca. Insertion canal of spermatic gland visible.</p><p>Etymology: from the Greek tetra (τετρα, four) and triches (τρίχες, hairs), referring to the four setae located at the apex of the parameres. This is a compound noun standing in apposition to the genus name (ICZN 1999: article 31.2.1).</p><p>Discussion</p><p>The hypothesis of a close relationship between the new species and L. bergidi is supported by the similarity of several morphological characters: body shape (Figs. 6, 7), structure of antennae, legs, spermathecal complex, aedeagus, identical metatergal apparatus (Figs. 10, 11) and metendosternite (Figs. 12, 13). However, there are significant morphological differences, which are described in detail in the comparative study below.</p><p>We suspect that this new species is sister to Leonesiella bergidi, and, judging by the marked morphological differences, that it originates from a basal split of the Leonesiella clade (Fresneda et al. 2024, fig. 1E). However, we cannot rule out the possibility that its position in the phylogenetic tree of Fresneda et al. (2024, fig. 1E) is that of a sister species to Leonesiella + Quaestus Schaufuss, 1861 or a sister species to Quaestus, and in either case, a genus would have to be described for this species. Molecular data are not yet available to allow its position to be defined unambiguously.</p><p>Comparative examination</p><p>– In L. tetratriches sp. nov., the mesoventral keel only slightly covers the mesocoxae and the anterior half of the ventral margin is serrated (Fig. 8). No species in the Quaestus group (sensu Fresneda et al. 2024) has a serrated keel. In L. bergidi, the keel is not serrated and extends over almost the entire metaventrite (Fig. 9) although it does not reach the posterior margin. This is more or less the case in all species of the Quaestus group ( Quaestus + Schaufussiella + Leonesiella) with the exception of Q. avicularis (Salgado, 1985) and Q. jaspei (Jeannel, 1948), where it is slightly shorter and covers only ¼ or ½ of its length.</p><p>– In L. tetratriches sp. nov., the suture of the metaventrite (mtvs) is similar to that of Quaestus arcanus Schaufuss, 1861 . It is curved in its anterior half so as to delimit a small semicircular area, and the posterior half is contiguous with the edge of the mesocoxal cavity (Fig. 8). In L. bergidi, it forms an arc extending from the upper end to the lower end of the mesocoxal cavity (Fig. 9).</p><p>– In L. tetratriches sp. nov., the general shape of the median lobe (Figs. 14, 18) is very similar to that of L. bergidi (Figs. 16, 19), although in the endophallus, the stylet is slightly longer and better defined, and has a large basal cup with strongly sclerotised margins (Fig. 15); the stylet has tissues covered with spinules on both sides (Fig. 17). In L. bergidi, the stylet is very short and hyaline, resembling two triangular sheets stuck together at their inner margin; in this case, the stylet is located in a pocket of squamosal tissue.</p><p>– The two species are distinguished mainly by their parameres: the apex of each paramere of L. tetratriches sp. nov. is somewhat thickened and has four setae–two longer and two shorter (Fig. 20)–while that of L. bergidi is barely thickened and has only three setae (Fig. 21). The number of setae can vary within the same genus, although this is very rare. All species of the genus Quaestus have three setae, with the exception of Q. incognitus Salgado &amp; Fresneda, 2004 which has four; this peculiarity led to the description of the subgenus Asturianella Salgado &amp; Fresneda, 2004, although a subsequent molecular study (Fresneda et al. 2024) showed the low phylogenetic value of this character.</p><p>– In L. tetratriches sp. nov., the spermatheca follows the same pattern as in L. bergidi, although the duct where the spermatic gland ends is visible (Fig. 24: red arrow). In L. bergidi, the spermatic gland duct is not observable, indicating that the spermatic gland does not exist (Fig. 25).</p><p>– In L. tetratriches sp. nov., the spiculum of the uroventrite VIII of the female is narrower and more pointed, not triangular (Fig. 22). In L. bergidi, the spiculum is very broad and triangular in shape (Fig. 23).</p><p>Variability: The new species varies mainly in size (1.6–1.8 mm) and in the parasutural striae, which may be absent or have 5 to 8 diffuse and spaced dots in the anterior area of the elytra.</p><p>Distribution (Figs. 1, 26): Leonesiella tetratriches sp. nov. is only known from MSS from two sites 1 km apart, on the slopes of a hill in Salientes bordered to the west by the Prao Viejo stream basin and to the south by the Valseco River. Although this area is located in the southern foothills of the Cantabrian Mountains, it is somewhat isolated from them by the Sil and Luna river basins. To the southeast, this area is bordered by the Tertiary basin of the Duero, in which no species of Leptodirini is known to occur, while to the west it borders an area where numerous localities of L. bergidi are known. This species is the westernmost of all species of the genera in the Quaestus group. Its range extends along the western foothills of the Montes Aquilanos and the Sierra de la Lastra in the province of León, the Sierras de Avellaneira and la Lastra in the province of Orense, the Sierras del Caurel and de Ancares in the province of Lugo, and the Sierra del Rañadoiro and Montes de Muniellos in the province of Asturias (Fresneda &amp; Salgado 2017). The caves are located in a discontinuous karst clearly isolated from the Cantabrian limestones, which are mainly composed of the so-called "Aquiana and Vegadeo limestones", in which the cavities show an obvious fossilisation process. This species has also been recorded in MSS (Salgado et al. 2008). It should be noted that the new species is present in an area with siliceous substrate.</p><p>Ecology: The traps were set up in an area of birches and willow trees next to a stream and a forest track (Ortuño et al. 2023). Precise data of the localities can be found in the Material and methods section. The species lives in the same habitat as the Leptodirini U. zariquieyi.</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03E8B8216E78C34EC8BFF893FD487DE3	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Fresneda, Javier;Ortuño, Vicente M.;Arribas, Óscar;Salgado, José María	Fresneda, Javier, Ortuño, Vicente M., Arribas, Óscar, Salgado, José María (2026): Leonesiella tetratriches sp. nov. from the Cantabrian Mountains (León, Spain) - first species of Cantabrian Leptodirini found in mesovoid shallow substratum (MSS) (Coleoptera, Leiodidae, Cholevinae, Leptodirini). Zootaxa 5757 (3): 261-270, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5757.3.3, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5757.3.3
