Oxypoda (Bessopora) afimbriata, Assing, 2006

Assing, V., 2006, New species and records of Staphylinidae from Greece, with two new synonymies (Insecta: Coleoptera), Linzer biologische Beiträge 38 (1), pp. 333-379 : 362-363

Oxypoda (Bessopora) afimbriata sp.n. ( Figs 80-82 , 84-90 , Map 3 )

Holotype 3: GR-Peloponnes, Erymanthos, Kalendzi, Pass, 1500 m, Rasen, Tanne, 27.3.97, P. Wunderle / Holotypus 3 Oxypoda afimbriata sp. n. det. V. Assing 2005 (cAss). Paratypes: 2♀♀: GR. Pelopónnisos, Erimanthos, oberh. Kalendzi, Sattel, 1500 m, 37°56'38N, 21°46'30E, 27.III.1997, V. Assing (cAss, cWun).

D e s c r i p t i o n: 2.5-2.7 mm. Coloration: whole body reddish yellow, with the central part of tergite VI and the anterior half of tergite VII infuscated; legs yellow. Habitus as in Fig. 84 .

Head indistinctly transverse; puncturation dense, but very shallow and somewhat illdefined; microsculpture very shallow ( Fig. 85 ); eyes relatively small ( Fig. 86 ), weakly projecting from lateral outline of head, distinctly shorter than postocular region in dorsal view. Antenna as in Fig. 87 , antennomere X approximately 1.5 times as wide as long. Preapical joint of maxillary palpus somewhat dilated, slightly less than twice as long as wide.

Pronotum 1.20-1.25 times as wide as head and 1.25-1.30 times as wide as long ( Fig. 85 ); maximal width approximately in or a short distance anterior to middle; puncturation very dense, ill-defined, and asperate; surface almost matt.

Elytra approximately as wide as pronotum and at suture 0.85-0.90 times as long as pronotum ( Fig. 85 ); surface somewhat flattened; puncturation coarser than that of pronotum, very dense, rasp-like, and ill-defined; microsculpture present; surface almost matt. Hind wings reduced, slightly projecting from under elytral hind margins when unfolded ( Fig. 85 ). Legs relatively short; metatarsomere I longer than the combined length of the two following metatarsomeres, approximately as long as the combined length of metatarsomeres II-IV or nearly so.

Abdomen approximately as wide as elytra, widest at segments V/VI, segments VII-VIII weakly tapering ( Fig. 84 ); puncturation fine and very dense on tergite III, gradually decreasing in density from tergites IV to VIII; microsculpture absent; posterior margin of tergite VII without palisade fringe.

3: posterior margin of sternite VIII obtusely angled in the middle ( Fig. 80 ); median lobe of aedeagus shaped as in Figs 88-89 , ventral process apically bifid; apical lobe of paramere of similar shape and chaetotaxy as in other species of the O. brachyptera group, very long, with two long basal and two short apical setae ( Fig. 90 ).

♀: posterior margin of sternite VIII weakly convex ( Fig. 81 ); spermatheca as in Fig. 82. E t y m o l o g y : The name (Lat., adj.: not fimbriate) refers to the absence of a palisade fringe at the posterior margin of tergite VII.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Oxypoda afimbriata belongs to the O. brachyptera group, as is suggested by the similar external characters and especially by the morphology of the median lobe of the aedeagus (general shape, internal structures, apically bifid ventral process), the shape and chaetotaxy of the apical lobe of the paramere, and by the morphology of the spermatheca. The new species is distinguished from the widespread O. brachyptera and O. lesbia by the paler coloration, which somewhat resembles that of some species of the subgenus Deropoda , by the much coarser and more asperate puncturation of the pronotum and the elytra, by the absence of a palisade fringe at the posterior margin of tergite VII, by the shape of the median lobe of the aedeagus, and by the shape of the spermathecal duct, which is longer and more slender than in O. lesbia (see Figs 77-79, 82 ).

D i s t r i b u t i o n a n d b i o n o m i c s: The species is known only from the Erimanthos range in the northwestern Pelopónnisos, Greece ( Map 3 ). The reduced hind wings and palisade fringe at the posterior margin of tergite VII suggest that it has a restricted distribution.

Figures

Map 3: Distribution of Oxypoda lesbia ASSING (filled circles), O. praecisa sp.n. (open circles), and O. afimbriata sp.n. (square) in Greece.

Figs 71-83: Oxypoda brachyptera (STEPHENS) (71), O. lesbia ASSING (72-79), O. afimbriata sp.n. (80-82), and O. praecisa sp.n. (83). (71-74) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view (72, 74: Timfristos; 73: Kato Olympos); (75) apical lobe of paramere; (77-79, 82-83) spermatheca (77: Timfristos; 78: Oros Giona; 79: Kato Olympos; 83: Panahaiko); (76, 81) ♀ sternite VIII; (80) 3 sternite VIII. Scale bars: 76, 80-81: 0.2 mm; 71-75, 77-79, 82-83: 0.1 mm.

Figs 84-94: Oxypoda afimbriata sp.n. (84-90) and O. praecisa sp.n. (91-94). (84, 91) habitus; (85, 92) forebody; (86, 93) head in lateral view; (87, 94) antenna; (88-89) median lobe of aedagus in lateral and in ventral view; (90) apical lobe of paramere. Scale bars: 84, 91: 1.0 mm; 85, 92: 0.5 mm; 86-87, 93-94: 0.2 mm; 88-90: 0.1 mm.