Geostiba sultanica, Assing, 2008

Assing, V., 2008, New species and additional records of Geostiba from the Eastern Mediterranean region and from Middle Asia (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 40 (2), pp. 1327-1335 : 1332-1334

Geostiba sultanica nov.sp. ( Figs 10-21 )

Holotype: N 38°29'47" E 31°11'37" (23), TR Konya, Sultan Dağ [ları] SW Sultandağı, 1730 m, Brachat & Meybohm 19.4.2008 / Holotypus Geostiba sultanica sp. n. det. V. Assing 2008 (cAss). Paratypes: 10, 26: same data as holotype (cAss, OÖLL).

D e s c r i p t i o n: Body length 2.0- 2.5 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 10 . Coloration: body uniformly yellowish; abdominal segment VI occasionally weakly infuscate.

Head approximately as wide as long or weakly oblong ( Fig. 11 ); punctation extremely fine, barely noticeable; surface with shallow microreticulation. Eyes reduced to minute rudiments, without ommatidia and pigmentation ( Fig. 12 ). Antennae distinctly incrassate apically; antennomere X approximately twice as wide as long.

Pronotum approximately 1.15 times as wide as head and 1.1 times as wide as long ( Fig. 11 ); punctation extremely fine, barely noticeable; microreticulation similar to that of head or slightly more pronounced.

Elytra with pronounced sexual dimorphism, 0.55-0.65 times as long as pronotum ( Fig. 11 ); microsculpture very shallow, less pronounced than that of head and pronotum. Hind wings reduced.

Abdomen approximately 1.3 times as wide as elytra; punctation very fine and moderately sparse; microreticulation distinct everywhere; posterior margin of tergite VII without palisade fringe; tergite VII with sexual dimorphism; posterior margin of tergite VIII convex in both sexes.

: elytra with weakly granulose punctation, at suture strongly elevated, forming pronounced and sharp sutural carinae extending over full length of suture, these carinae highest and broadest anteriorly, and decreasing in height and width posteriad ( Fig. 11 ); tergite VII with pronounced long median tubercle, in large males extending approximately from anterior 1/4 of tergite to posterior margin, this tubercle smooth, glossy, and tapering in posterior 1/4 of tergite ( Figs 13-14 ); posterior margin of sternite VIII obtusely pointed in the middle ( Fig. 15 ); median lobe of aedeagus with long flagellum in internal sac ( Figs 16-18 ); apical lobe of paramere moderately stout, with one stout long median seta and three fine short subapical setae ( Fig. 19 ).

: elytra with fine, non-granulose punctation and without sutural carinae; tergite VII unmodified; sternite VIII weakly concave in the middle ( Fig. 20 ); spermatheca minute, only 0.08 mm long, with conspicuously short and proximally simply curved duct ( Fig. 21 ).

E t y m o l o g y: The name (adjective) is derived from the Sultan Dağları, where the type locality is situated.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Geostiba sultanica is readily distinguished from all other known congeners recorded from Turkey based on external characters alone, particularly by the presence of a long median tubercle on the male abdominal tergite VII. In addition, it is separated from its congeners by the morphology of the aedeagus, especially the presence and shape of the flagellum in the internal sac, as well as by the shape and minute size of the spermatheca.

The subgeneric affiliations of the species are unclear. Based on the modifications of the male abdominal tergite VII, G. sultanica would have to be assigned to the subgenus Typhlusida CASEY 1906 . The geographically closest representatives of this subgenus are G. rhilensis (RAMBOUSEK 1924) from Bulgaria and G. flava (KRAATZ 1856) from south- eastern Austria and Slovenia. The new species is readily separated from both of them by the modifications of the male elytra, the shape of the tubercle on the male tergite VII, and particularly by the morphology of the genitalia. For illustrations of the male secondary sexual characters and the genitalia of G. flava and G. rhilensis see ASSING (2000) and PACE (1983b, 1984) (under the synonym G. bulgarica PACE ), respectively.

The only Turkish representative of the genus with a long flagellum in the internal sac is G. uhligi PACE 1983 , which is currently attributed to the subgenus Sibiota CASEY 1906 , but which, based on the synapomorphically derived morphology of the internal structures of the aedeagus, may be the closest relative of G. sultanica . It is readily distinguished from the new species by the larger eyes with ommatidia and pigmentation, by the presence of a pair of carinae on the male tergite VII, as well as by the different morphology of the genitalia. For illustrations of the genitalia of G. uhligi see PACE (1983a).

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 can be inferred from the adaptive reductions of the eyes, pigmentation, and wings, as well as from the absence of records from other localities, the species is probably endemic to the Sultan Dağları in southwestern Anatolia. The type specimens were collected in an oak forest by sifting moist leaf litter and moss at an altitude of 1730 m (MEYBOHM pers. comm.).

Figures

Figs 9-21: Geostiba kirghisica nov.sp. (9) and G. sultanica nov.sp. (10-21): (9, 21) spermatheca; (10) male habitus; (11) male forebody; (12) head in lateral view; (13-14) male tergites VII-VIII in dorsal and in lateral view; (15) male sternite VIII; (16-18) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view; (19) apical lobe of paramere; (20) female sternite VIII. Scale bars: 10: 1.0 mm; 11: 0.5 mm; 12-15, 20: 0.2 mm; 9, 16-19: 0.1 mm; 21: 0.05 mm.