Geostiba (Sipalotricha) albimontis, Assing, 2007

Assing, V., 2007, Four new species and additional records of Geostiba from Turkey and Crete, and a new synonymy (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 39 (2), pp. 777-790 : 785-787

Geostiba (Sipalotricha) albimontis sp.n. ( Figs 24-35 )

Holotype: GR: Crete [11], Chania : Levka Ori, S Mega Oros, 4.5 km S Askifon, 830 m, 35°15'49N, 24°10'34E, 22.X.2006, M. Schülke / Holotypus Geostiba albimontis sp.n. det. V. Assing 2006 (cAss). Paratypes: 4, 4: same data as holotype (cAss, cSch),

D e s c r i p t i o n: External morphology as in G. icaria PACE. Distinguished only by the primary sexual characters:

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: tergite VIII and sternite VIII as in Figs 24-25 ; median lobe of aedeagus of similar morphology as in G. icaria , but with two long spines in internal sac ( Figs 26-30 ).

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: tergite VIII and sternite VIII as in Figs 31-32 ; spermatheca with smaller and more slender capsule, and with distinctly longer duct than in G. icaria .

E t y m o l o g y: The name (Latin: noun, genitive) refers to the Levka Ori (Greek for "white mountains"), where the type locality is situated.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: In the key in ASSING (2005a), the species would key out at couplet 129 together with G. icaria , another endemic of the Levka Ori, from which it is distinguished only by the presence of two long spines in the internal sac of the aedeagus and by the completely different shape of the spermatheca. For illustrations of the sexual characters of G. icaria see ASSING (1999).

D i s t r i b u t i o n a n d b i o n o m i c s: As is suggested by the absence of previous records and by the restricted distributions of other Sipalotricha species occur- ring in Crete, G. albomontis is probably endemic to the Levka Ori, western Crete. The type specimens were sifted from litter of Quercus ilex, Juniperus, and shrubs on a dry calcareous slope ( Fig. 35 ) at an altitude of 830 m (SCHÜLKE pers. comm.).

Figures

Figs 22-34: Geostiba atrioculata nov.sp. (22-23) and G. albimontis nov.sp. (24-34): (22-23, 33-34) spermatheca; (23) male tergite VIII; (25) male sternite VIII; (26-28) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view; (29-30) internal spines of median lobe in lateral and in ventral view; (31) female tergite VIII; (32) female sternite VIII. Scale bars: 24-25, 31-32: 0.2 mm; 22-23, 26-30, 33-34: 0.1 mm.

Fig. 35: Type locality of Geostiba albimontis nov.sp. (photo: M. Schülke).