Anaulacaspis excisa, Assing, 2016

Assing, Volker, 2016, Revision of the Anaulacaspis species of the Palaearctic region (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 66 (2), pp. 201-255 : 239-240

Anaulacaspis excisa spec. nov.

( Figs 136–141 , Map 4 )

Type material: Holotype ♂: “ IRAN, Ilam Province, Sarableh – Kuhdasht : NW Sarneh , 890 m, N 33°41'04" E 047°03'43", 17.10.2011, leg. Frisch / Holotypus ♂ Anaulacaspis excisa sp. n., det. V. Assing 2016” ( MNB) . Paratypes: 1 ♂, 2 ♀♀: same data as holotype ( MNB, cAss); 1 ♂: “♂ / SO. Persien, Iranshar [27°12'N, 60°41'E] / naevula / ex coll. Scheerpeltz ” ( NHMW) .

Etymology: The specific epithet is the past participle of the Latin verb excidere (to cut out) and alludes to the conspicuous median excision of the posterior margin of tergite VIII.

Description: Body length 2.7–3.2 mm; length of forebody 1.3–1.5 mm. Coloration: head blackish-brown to black; pronotum brown to blackish-brown; elytra with the anterior portion reddish to reddish-brown, the median portion (except for the suture) extensively blackish, and the posterior margin broadly pale-yellowish, the yellowish coloration extending to middle at suture; abdomen blackish-brown to black, with segments III and IV reddish-brown; legs dark-brown, except for the paler tarsi and femoral bases; antennae blackish-brown, with the basal 3–4 antennomeres brown.

Head approximately 1.15 times as broad as long, with distinct sexual dimorphism. Eyes slightly longer than postocular region in dorsal view. Antenna slender, 1.2–1.3 mm long; antennomeres IV–VII distinctly oblong, VIII–IX approximately as long as broad, and X weakly transverse.

Pronotum 1.10–1.15 times as broad as long and approximately as broad as, or slightly narrower than head, with pronounced sexual dimorphism.

Elytra slightly shorter than pronotum; punctation dense and very fine. Hind wings fully developed.

Abdomen approximately as broad as elytra; punctation dense, fine, and nearly regularly distributed; posterior margin of tergite VIII ( Figs 136, 140 ) with weakly pronounced sexual dimorphism, posterior margin concave in the middle, marginal setae short, middle of posterior margin without marginal setae.

♂: head extensively depressed or weakly impressed, punctation distinct; pronotum with pronounced, deep, broad, and long median impression, punctation dense, distinct, and somewhat asperate; posterior margin of tergite VIII ( Fig. 136 ) with broad and moderately deep median concavity; posterior margin of sternite VIII ( Fig. 137 ) obtusely pointed in the middle, with thin and dense marginal setae; median lobe of aedeagus ( Figs 138–139 ) 0.40–0.43 mm long; ventral process apically curved, nearly angled in lateral view, broadly triangular and apically acute in ventral view.

♀: head not depressed or impressed, punctation distinct, but finer than in male; pronotum with very shallow median impression at most, punctation dense and distinct, but less so than in male and not asperate; posterior margin of tergite VIII ( Fig. 140 ) with small and shallow median concavity; posterior margin of sternite VIII ( Fig. 141 ) weakly concave in the middle.

Comparative notes: The pronounced sexual dimorphism of the pronotum, the slender antennae, the similar shapes and chaetotaxy of the male and female sternite VIII, as well as the similar morphology of the aedeagus suggest that A. excisa is closely related to A. desertorum , A. naevula , and allied species, from which it differs by darker average coloration, much more slender antennae, an even more pronounced sexual dimorphism of the pronotum, the shape and chaetotaxy of tergite VIII, and by the shape of the median lobe of the aedeagus. It is readily distinguished from the sympatric and syntopic A. seclusa by the distinctly longer and more slender antennae alone.

Distribution: The known distribution is confined to two localities in western and southern Iran ( Map 4 ). The specimens from the type locality were collected together with A. seclusa at an altitude of 890 m.

Figures

Map 4: Distributions of Anaulacaspis desertorum (black circles), A. naevula (white circles), A. iberica (white stars), A. laevigata (white diamonds), A. gratilla (black diamonds), and A. excisa (black stars) in the West Palaearctic and Middle Asia, based on revised records. The question mark indicates the records without specified locality of A. gratilla from Iraq.

Figs 136–163: Anaulacaspsis excisa (136–141), A. pamphylica (142–145), A. flavomarginata (146–150), A. laevigata (151–158; 153–154: lectotype; 155: Pelopónnisos; 156: Lesbos),and A. iberica (159–163): maletergite VIII(136, 142,146, 151); male sternite VIII (137, 143, 147, 152); median lobe of aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view (138–139, 144–145, 148–149, 153–156, 159–162); female sternite VIII (141, 150, 158);female tergite VIII (140); apex of ventral process of aedeagus in lateral view (157, 163). Scalebars:0.1 mm.