Laemostenus (Pristonychus) eggeri, Casale & D.W & P, 2012

Casale, A., D. W & P, Antalya, 2012, New or little known Laemostenus species from the Near and Middle East (Coleoptera, Carabidae: Sphodrini), Linzer biologische Beiträge 44 (2), pp. 1111-1127 : 1119-1120

Laemostenus (Pristonychus) eggeri nov.sp.

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype, labelled: " SYRIEN, nord-west Aleppo, ca. 500-550 m, umg. HARIM u. BASHMISHLI, I. Puchner 1.V.-20.V.99" (cWR). Paratypes: 12, 15, same as holotype (BOL, cCA, cEG, cHE, cWR).

D i a g n o s i s: Amedium-sized,piceousblack Laemostenus (Pristonychus) species of the L. terricola species group (in the widest sense of CASALE 1988). Habitus Fig. 24.

E t y m o l o g y: Dedicated to our friend and active coleopterist Manfred Egger (Wattens, Austria), with great experiences in collecting cave beetles who kindly offered to us for study the specimens described here.

D e s c r i p t i o n: Body medium-sized (TL: 14.0- 16.5 mm, holotype 15.5 mm; L: 15.0-18.0 mm, holotype 16.8 mm).

Colour: Piceous black; labrum, mandibles and palpomeres brown-blackish. Surface shining, elytra not sericeous.

Microsculpure: Head and pronotum with transverse, very indistinct microlines, elytra with distinct, isodiametric meshes.

Head small, narrow, smooth or with very shallow transverse wrinkles; eyes small, shorter than tempora, but prominent outside; frontal impressions very short, narrow, moderately impressed.

Pronotum (Fig. 10) transverse (LP/WP: 0.85), slightly cordate, its lateral sides reflexed, markedly widened in front, posteriorly briefly sinuate and markedly constricted to the basolateral angles, which are small but prominent laterally; anterolateral angles small, but prominent; base fully beaded. Disc flattened, with shallow transverse wrinkles; basal impressions small, elongate, deep, each with some large, deep punctures extended, in some individuals, to the basal area and the lateral furrow; anterolateral and basolateral setiferous punctures present.

Mesosternum not denticulate.

Elytra ovate, short (LE/WE: 1.50), markedly depressed at base, subconvex in the apical half. Base narrow; basal ridge weakly concave; humeral tooth and shoulders vanished. Striae deep, punctuate; intervals subconvex. Chaetotaxy: Basal pore present; umbilicate series with 18-19 setiferous punctures; 2 setae at apex of stria 7.

Legs long and slender; profemora on ventral side longitudinally shallowly concave for entire length, their outer margin smooth or with some small teeth and a few (2-5) short setae; mesotibiae straight in females, markedly curved in males; metatibiae each with apical brush of rather long, yellow-reddish setae; tarsomeres with dorsal pubescence sparse and short; metatarsomeres very thin and elongate; males with protarsomeres 1-3 dilated and with ventral, biseriate adhesive vestiture. Tarsal claws with a series of very small teeth, reduced in number (5-6), along the basal half of the internal margin.

Male genitalia (Figs 11-14): Aedeagus with median lobe rather short, arcuate, medially inflated; apex very short, regularly rounded, dorsally depressed, not prominent on the dorsal side. Apical orifice wide. Right paramere rounded apically; left paramere with short apical membranous lobe.

Female genitalia: Not examined. C o m p a r i s o n s: The new species is related to both L. (P.) pisidicus (G. MÜLLER 1931) and L. (P.) sciakyi CASALE & VIGNA TAGLIANTI 1999, Anatolian species from which it is recognized by the more reduced although prominent eyes, the flattened, more transverse pronotum, widened in front, the shorter, more ovate elytra, with shoulders and humeral tooth fully vanished, the markedly curved mesotibiae in males, the more slender and more elongate metatarsomeres, with shorter and sparse dorsal pubescence, the tarsal claws with more reduced teeth on the internal side, and the different shape of the median lobe of the aedeagus.

D i s t r i b u t i o n a n d h a b i t a t: An epigean species, known so far only from the Aleppo region (North-Western Syria), at 500-550 m a.s.l. The specimens were caught by traps but we have no information on the biotope.

R e m a r k s: As in the case of L. (Laemostenus) croyi nov.sp. described above, the discovery of a new, apparently not rare taxon in an area well investigated since many years was unexpected, and confirms the high diversity and the importance in biogeographic aspects of the carabid fauna in the Eastern Mediterranean area as a whole ( CASALE & VIGNA TAGLIANTI 1999).

Figures

Figs 22-25: Laemostenus, habitus. (22) L. croyi nov.sp., paratype. (23) L. phoenicius nov.sp., paratype (Maїfouq). (24) L. eggeri nov.sp., paratype. (25) L. bellicosus nov.sp., holotype (various magnifications).