Oxypoda (Podoxya) verminata, Assing, 2018

Assing, Volker, 2018, Three new species of Oxypoda from Spain, Armenia, and Ukraine with notes on the fauna of Armenia (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 50 (1), pp. 111-127 : 114-119

Oxypoda (Podoxya) verminata nov.sp. ( Figs 9-20 , Map 2 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype ♂: " ARMENIA [10] – Sevani range E Sevan lake , 40°23'51''N, 45°29'53''E, 2025 m, oak forest, 28. VI.2017, V. Assing / Holotypus ♂ Oxypoda verminata sp.n. det. V. Assing 2017" (cAss) . Paratypes: 2♂♂, 1♀: same data as holotype (cAss) ; 3 exs.: same data, but leg. Schülke ( MNB) ; 3♂♂, 3♀♀: " ARMENIA [8] – mountain range SE Vardenis, 40°05'14''N, 45°49'22''E, 2330 m, stream valley, 27. VI.2017, V. Assing (cAss) ; 1♀: same data, but leg. Schülke ( MNB) ; 1♂: " ARMENIA [AR17-09] - Vardenis mountain range SE Vardenis, 40°02'38''N, 45°46'12''E, 2730 m, stream bank below snowfields, debris sifted, 27. VI.2017, Schülke" ( MNB) .

E t y m o l o g y: The specific epithet (Latin, adjective: with worms, worm-shaped) refers to the shapes of the sclerotized internal structures of the aedeagus in lateral view.

D e s c r i p t i o n: Body length 2.3-3.1 mm; length of forebody 1.2-1.4 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 9 . Coloration: head, pronotum, abdomen (except for the somewhat paler segments VIII-X), and antennae black; elytra black with the posterior margin more or less distinctly and more or less extensively paler brown; legs dark-yellowish with the metafemora usually slightly darker; maxillary palpi blackish with palpomere IV darkyellowish.

Head ( Fig. 10 ) transverse; punctation extremely dense and fine; interstices with pronounced microsculpture and matt. Eyes large, longer than postocular region in dorsal view. Antenna moderately incrassate; antennomere IV as long as broad or weakly transverse; antennomeres V-X of gradually increasing width and increasingly transverse, X approximately 1.5 times as broad as long, and XI approximately as long as the combined length of VIII-X. Maxillary palpomere III barely three times as long as broad.

Pronotum ( Fig. 10 ) large and strongly transverse, 1.37-1.45 times as broad as long and approximately 1.55 times as broad as head, broadest near posterior angles; punctation extremely dense and very fine; interstices with pronounced microreticulation and matt.

Elytra ( Fig. 10 ) approximately as long as pronotum or slightly shorter; punctation similar to that of pronotum; interstices with microreticulation and matt. Hind wings fully developed. Metatarsomere I approximately as long as the combined length of metatarsomeres II-IV or nearly so.

Abdomen ( Fig. 11 ) narrower than elytra and tapering from base to apex; tergites III-V with very shallow anterior impressions; punctation extremely dense and very fine; microsculpture present, but difficult to see owing to the dense punctation; posterior

margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe; posterior margin of tergite VIII weakly concave in the middle.

♂: posterior margin of sternite VIII ( Fig. 20 ) acutely produced in the middle; median lobe of aedeagus ( Figs 12-14 ) 0.35 mm long, with large crista apicalis; ventral process apically convex in ventral view; internal sac with long flagellum and with sclerotized structures of distinctive shapes; paramere ( Fig. 15 ) approximately 0.62 mm long and with slender apical lobe.

♀: posterior margin of sternite VIII broadly and weakly convex, with rather long, dark, and moderately stout marginal setae; spermatheca as in Figs 16-17.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Oxypoda verminata somewhat resembles O. lentula ERICHSON, 1837, the type species of Podoxya MULSANT & REY, 1875, in coloration, size, antennal morphology, head shape, the shapes of the male and female sternites VIII, and particularly in the dense punctation of the whole body. It differs from this species by the paler coloration of the legs, a more transverse pronotum, even denser punctation of the pronotum, the elytra, and the posterior tergites, more transverse preapical antennomeres, a posteriorly more distinctly tapering abdomen, a much smaller and differently shaped median lobe of the aedeagus (O. lentula: median lobe approximately 0.5 mm long), the presence of a long flagellum and differently shaped sclerotized structures in the internal sac of the aedeagus, and by the shape of the spermatheca.

D i s t r i b u t i o n a n d n a t u r a l h i s t o r y: The species is currently known from three localities in the mountains to the east and south of Lake Sevan, North Armenia ( Map 2 ). The specimens were sifted from litter and roots beneath willow at a stream bank ( Fig. 19 ), from litter and roots at an oak forest margin ( Fig. 18 ), and from debris at a stream bank below large snowfields at altitudes of 2025-2730 m.

Oxypoda breviata nov.sp. ( Figs 21-27 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype ♂: " Ukraine: Kherson obl., Askania Nova env., 31.III.2016, Bol'shoy Chapels pod, salt soil, leg. Gontarenko" (cAss). Paratype ♀: same data as holotype (cGon).

E t y m o l o g y: The specific epithet is the past participle of the Latin verb breviare (to shorten) and alludes to the short spermatheca.

D e s c r i p t i o n: Body length 3.8-4.0; length of forebody 1.7-1.8 mm. Coloration: body black, except for an extensive reddish spot of triangular shape on each elytron; legs brown to dark-brown with the tarsi slightly paler; antennae dark-brown; maxillary palpi dark-brown with the apical palpomere yellowish.

Head ( Fig. 21 ) of suborbicular shape; punctation very fine and moderately dense; interstices with distinct microsculpture and practically matt. Eyes large and weakly convex, approximately as long as distance from posterior margin of eye to posterior constriction of head in dorsal view. Antenna ( Fig. 22 ) approximately 1.0 mm long; antennomeres III of conical shape, approximately as long as II or slightly shorter, IV short and distinctly transverse (approximately 1.5 times as broad as long), V-X of gradually increasing length and decreasingly transverse, X less than 1.5 times as broad as long, and XI elongate, nearly as long as the combined length of VIII-X. Maxillary palpomere III rather short, less than three times as long as broad.

Pronotum ( Fig. 21 ) 1.33-1.39 times as broad as long and 1.33-1.43 times as broad as

head, broadest slightly behind middle; punctation dense and distinct, coarser than that of head; interstices with distinct microsculpture, nearly matt.

Elytra ( Fig. 21 ) 1.03-1.06 times as long as pronotum; punctation similar to that of pronotum; interstices with microsculpture and nearly matt. Hind wings probably fully developed. Legs slender; metatarsomere I approximately as long as the combined length of metatarsomeres II-IV.

Abdomen ( Fig. 23 ) narrower than elytra, slender, and with segments III-VII of subequal width (i.e., lateral outline of segments III-VII nearly parallel); tergites III-V with shallow anterior impressions; punctation very dense on tergites III-VI, sparser on tergites VII- VIII; interstices without evident microsculpture.

♂: sternite VIII ( Fig. 24 ) noticeably longer than tergite VIII, posterior margin strongly convex in the middle; median lobe of aedeagus ( Figs 25-26 ) 0.48 mm long and of highly distinctive shape; ventral process with strongly arched basal portion and distinctly angled in the middle in lateral view; paramere large and approximately 0.75 mm long, much longer than median lobe, apical lobe of paramere long, curved, and apically acute.

♀: posterior margin of sternite VIII truncate in the middle and with stout dark marginal setae; spermatheca ( Fig. 27 ) short and comma-shaped.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Among West Palaearctic congeners, O. breviata most resembles the widespread O. bimaculata BAUDI DI SELVE, 1870 (East Mediterranean and Caucasus regions) in habitus, size, antennal morphology, and coloration. It is distinguished from this species by much more transverse antennomeres IV-V, coarser punctation of the forebody, coarser and much less dense punctation of the abdomen, a longer metatarsomere I, and particularly by the completely different shapes of the aedeagus and of the spermatheca.

D i s t r i b u t i o n a n d n a t u r a l h i s t o r y: The type locality is situated near Askania Nova in Kherson oblast (to the north of the Krym Peninsula). The specimens were collected on saline soil.

Figures

Map 2: Distributions of Oxypoda flexa (black circles), O. subplicata (white circles), and O. verminata (white stars).

Figs 9-17: Oxypoda verminata nov.sp.: (9) habitus; (10) forebody; (11) abdomen; (12-14) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view; (15) paramere; (16-17) spermatheca. Scale bars: 9: 1.0 mm; 10-11: 0.5 mm; 15: 0.2 mm; 12-14, 16-17: 0.1 mm.

Fig. 18: Type locality of Oxypoda verminata.

Fig. 19: Locality in the mountain range to the southeast of Vardenis, where six specimens of Oxypoda verminata were found.

Figs 20-27: Oxypoda verminata nov.sp. (20) and O. breviata nov.sp. (21-27): (20, 24) male sternite VIII; (21) forebody; (22) antenna; (23) abdomen; (25-26) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view; (27) spermatheca. Scale bars: 21-23: 0.5 mm; 20, 24: 0.2 mm; 25-27: 0.1 mm.