Ochthebius (Asiobates) arator, Ertorun, Nesil & Jäch, Manfred A., 2014

Ertorun, Nesil & Jäch, Manfred A., 2014, Two new species of Ochthebius Leach (Coleoptera: Hydraenidae) from Turkey, Zootaxa 3802 (3), pp. 395-399 : 398-399

Ochthebius (Asiobates) arator sp. nov.

Type locality. Very small unshaded stream, very slowly flowing, almost dried out, 38°39'39''N 28°51'17''E, ca. 512 m a.s.l., ca. 0.3 km west of Çatalbayır village, western Uşak Province, western Turkey ( Fig. 1 b).

Material examined. Holotype male ( NMW): “ TR: Uşak Çatalbayır village 28°51'17''E / 38°39'39''N 512 m, 23.V.2012 leg. N. Ertorun”. Paratypes: 1 female ( NMW), same locality and date as the holotype; 2 males ( CEE, NMW), 1 female ( NMW): same locality as the holotype, but 5.VII.2011; 9 exs. ( CEE): same locality as the holotype, but 19.VI.2012; 1 male ( CEE): “ TR: Kütahya-Gediz 0 4.07.2011 38°57'26.0''N 29°30'38.3''E, altitude: 801 m. Leg: N. Ertorun”.

Additional material examined. One male from the type locality, collected on 5.VII.2011, was not designated as paratype, because it had been sputter-coated for SEM examination.

Differential diagnosis. 1.75–2.00 mm long. Externally, this species agrees very well with O. striatus Castelnau. These two species share all the important diagnostic characters like size, body shape, and sexual dimorphism. Obviously, they cannot be distinguished without aedeagus extraction. Ochthebius annae Ferro from Crete ( Greece) and O. naxianus Ieniştea from Naxos ( Greece) also cannot be distinguished from the new species externally.

The aedeagus ( Figs. 3 b-c) differs considerably from that of O. striatus ( Jäch 1990: Fig. 22). The distal lobe is long and bisinuous (lateral view) and characterized by a hook-like ventral process; the apex is wide and truncate.

The shape of the distal lobe is somewhat intermediate between those of Ochthebius annae ( Jäch 1990: Fig. 24) and O. naxianus ( Jäch 1990: Fig. 26): it is more robust and less elongate than in O. annae , and it is distinctly longer and more sinuous than in O. naxianus .

To a certain degree, the distal lobe of O. arator is also somewhat similar to that of O. laticollis , but it is slenderer and more sinuous than in the latter (externally, O. laticollis differs significantly in the very densely punctate head and pronotum).

Discussion. Ochthebius striatus is widely distributed from Croatia to southern Russia and Israel. It is so far known from 22 Turkish provinces ( Ertorun et al. 2011), being one of the most common Turkish species of this genus. It has, however, never been recorded from Kütahya or Uşak.

It should be noted here, that O. striatus might well be a complex of different species. Comprehensive comparative studies on the interpopulational variability of the aedeagus of O. striatus s.l. have not been carried out so far.

Etymology. Arator (Latin) : ploughman. The name refers to the remarkable shape of the aedeagal distal lobe, which somewhat resembles a traditional plough.

Distribution. So far known only from two localites in western Turkey (Kütahya and Uşak Provinces).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Type locality of a) Ochthebius (s. str.) halophilus. Photograph by M. B. Mutlu, and b) Ochthebius (Asiobates) arator. Photograph by C. Aydınlı.

FIGURE 3. Aedeagi of a) Ochthebius (s. str.) halophilus, lateral view, and b – c) Ochthebius (Asiobates) arator in b) lateral and c) dorsal view. Scale = 0.1 mm.