Aleochara caloderoides, Assing, 2007

Assing, Volker, 2007, On the Aleocharini of Turkey, with notes on some species from adjacent regions (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae, Aleocharinae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 57 (1), pp. 177-209 : 181-184

Aleochara caloderoides sp. n. ( Figs 15-26 , 84-86 )

Type material:

Holotype ♂: TR-Südküste, Str. Anamur, 30 km i.R. Ermenek, 800 m, 17.5.2000, Meybohm/ Brachat / Holotypus ♂ Aleochara caloderoidescaloderoides sp. n. det. V. Assing 2006 (cAss). Paratypes: 1 ♀: TR Mersin (33), road to Arslanköy , 5 km SE Aladag, 700 m / 36°54´45N, 34°31´44E, 10.5.2004 ,

leg. Brachat & Meybohm (cAss); 1 ♂: TR - Mersin [33], road to Arslanköy , 5 km SE Aladag, 700 m, 36°54´45N, 34°31´44E, 2.V.2004, C. Besuchet (cAss) .

Description:

Measurements (in mm) and ratios (range; n=3): AL: 1.10-1.25; HL: 0.51-0.55; HW: 0.47-0.53; PW: 0.68-0.80; PL: 0.56-0.66; EL: 0.54-0.59; EW: 0.91-1.03; AW: 0.79-0.89; TiL: 0.62-0.66; TaL: 0.47-0.50; ML: 0.45-0.51; TL: 4.0-4.7; HL/HW: 1.03-1.10; PW/HW: 1.45-1.55; PW/PL: 1.16-1.23; EL/PL: 0.89-0.97; EW/PW: 1.26-1.33; AW/EW: 0.85-0.88; TiL/TaL: 1.32-1.42.

Coloration: body bicoloured: head black; pronotum blackish brown; elytra dark yellowish, with the scutellar and the postero-lateral area more or less distinctly infuscate; abdomen black, with the narrow posterior margins of segments III-VI and the posterior 1/3-1/2 of segments VII-VIII paler; legs and palpi yellowish; antenna bicoloured, with antennomeres I-III yellowish and IV-XI dark brown.

Head oblong and of oval shape, posterior angles obsolete ( Fig. 15 ); puncturation rather sparse and well-defined; interstices distinctly wider than diameter of punctures; pubescence long, greyish, and suberect; microsculpture almost absent (very shallow traces visible in places). Eyes large ( Fig. 16 ), but weakly bulging, slightly longer than postocular region in dorsal view. Antennae of distinctive morphology: antennomeres I-III distinctly oblong and of subequal length; IV weakly transverse and distinctly smaller than V; V-X moderately transverse and of subequal width, approximately 1.5 times as wide as long; XI approximately as long as the combined length of IX-X ( Fig. 17 ). Labium as in Fig. 18 .

Pronotum distinctly transverse and moderately large in relation to head (see ratios PW/PL and PW/HW); maximal width approximately in the middle; posterior angles weakly marked, almost obsolete ( Fig. 15 ); pronotal hypomera very narrowly visible in lateral view; puncturation fine, distinctly finer than that of head, and moderately dense; interstices wider than diameter of punctures; pubescence directed caudad along midline and almost transversely laterad in lateral areas; microsculpture absent.

Elytra approximately 1.3 times as wide and at suture about as long as pronotum; posterior margin moderately sinuate near posterior angles; puncturation distinctly coarser than that of head and pronotum; microsculpture absent ( Fig. 15 ). Hind wings fully developed. Mesosternum without median carina, at most with very short rudiment anteriorly. Metatarsomere I longer than the combined length of II-III, but shorter than the combined length of II-IV.

Abdomen widest at base, gradually tapering posteriad; tergites III-V with moderately deep and almost impunctate anterior impressions, puncturation fine and sparse; tergites III-VI without microsculpture and very glossy; tergite VII with shallow microsculpture; posterior margin of tergite VII with distinct palisade fringe ( Fig. 19 ).

♂: posterior margin of tergite VIII truncate in the middle ( Fig. 20 ); sternite VIII posteriorly distinctly pointed ( Fig. 21 ); tergite X as in Fig. 22 ; median lobe of aedeagus shaped as in Figs 23-25 , with distinctive internal structures; paramere as in Fig. 26 .

♀: posterior margin of tergite VIII distinctly convex ( Fig. 84 ); posterior margin of sternite VIII broadly and moderately convex ( Fig. 85 ); spermatheca with capsule of distinctive shape and with long and almost straight duct ( Fig. 86 ).

Etymology: The name (Lat., adj.) refers to the morphology of the antennae, which somewhat resembles that of species of Calodera MANNERHEIM.

Comparative notes and subgeneric affiliations:

Based on the absence of the median carina on the mesosternum, the species would have to be attributed to the subgenera Aleochara , Euryodma , or Heterochara. However, there are no derived characters linking it to any of the species currently attributed to these taxa. Among the Aleochara species of the Western Palaearctic region, A. caloderoidescaloderoides holds a somewhat isolated position with a distinctive character combination: small size, antennae resembling those of Calodera , relatively slender pronotum (similar in shape to that of A. inconspicua ), mesosternum without median carina, abdomen in shape, shine, and puncturation resembling that of some species of Ocalea , and an aedeagus of similar morphology as that of some species of Ceranota . In view of the uncertain phylogenetic affiliations of this species, it is not attributed to any of the described subgenera.

Distribution and bionomics:

The type locality is situated in Mersin province, southern Anatolia. Apart from the altitude (800 m), bionomic data are not available .

Figures

Figs 15-26: Aleochara caloderoides: forebody (15); head in lateral view (16); antenna (17); labium (18); abdomen (19); male tergite VIII (20); male sternite VIII (21); tergite X (22); median lobe of aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view (23-24); apical internal structures of median lobe in ventral view (25); paramere (26). Scale bars: 15, 19: 1.0 mm; 16-17, 20-21: 0.5 mm; 18, 22-26: 0.2 mm.

Figs 74-86: Aleochara cf. erythroptera, nanistic male (74-83) and A. caloderoidescaloderoides (84-86): habitus (74); forebody (75); antenna (76); male abdomen (77); male abdomen in ventral view (78); male sternites IV-V in latero-ventral view (79); male tergite VIII (80); male sternite VIII (81); median lobe of aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view (82-83); female tergite VIII (84); female sternite VIII (85); spermatheca (86). Scale bars: 74: 1.0 mm; 75-81, 84-85: 0.5 mm; 82-83: 0.2 mm; 86: 0.1 mm.