Aphaenostemmus rhodicus, 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 : 349-350

Aphaenostemmus rhodicus sp.n. ( Figs 60-63 )

Holotype ♀: Greece, Rhodes , Kolimbia, Loutani river, 10 mNN, 14.04.1994, leg. J. Frisch / Holotypus ♀ Aphaenostemmus rhodicus sp. n. det. V. Assing 2005 ( MNHUB). Paratype ♀: same data as holotype (cAss).

D e s c r i p t i o n: 3.8-4.0 mm; habitus as in Fig. 60 . Coloration: head and pronotum castaneous; elytra yellowish brown; abdomen dark brown to blackish brown; legs and antennae brown.

Head weakly transverse, approximately 1.05 times as wide as long; eyes large and bulging, about twice as long as postocular region in dorsal view; puncturation moderately coarse and dense, interstices in central dorsal area on average as wide as diameter of punctures, in lateral areas narrower; microsculpture absent ( Fig. 62 ). Antenna as in Fig. 63 .

Pronotum approximately 1.10 times as wide as head and 1.20 times as wide as long, maximal width a short distance anterior to middle; posterior angles obtusely marked; puncturation coarser and denser than that of head, interstices distinctly narrower than diameter of punctures; microsculpture absent ( Fig. 62 ).

Elytra 1.35-1.40 times as wide and at suture about 1.8 times as long as pronotum; puncturation similar to that of pronotum ( Fig. 61 ); microsculpture absent. Hind wings fully developed.

Abdomen slightly wider than elytra; puncturation very fine, barely noticeable; integument with pronounced microreticulation rendering the surface almost completely matt; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe.

3: unknown.

E t y m o l o g y: The name (Lat.: adj.) is derived from Rhódos, where the type locality is situated.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: In the Palaearctic region sensu LÖBL & SMETANA (2004), the genus Aphaenostemmus PEYERIMHOFF 1914 previously included only five species ( HERMAN 2001). Two species had become known from the Western Palaearctic: A. bordei PEYERIMHOFF 1914 ( Algeria, Tunisia) and A. testaceus ( KOCH 1936) ( Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Oman). From the former, A. rhodicus is separated by the lighter coloration of the head, pronotum, legs, and antennae, by slightly smaller size, by the relatively narrower and smaller pronotum, by the shorter and more slender antennae, and by the much denser puncturation of the head and pronotum. The habitus of A. bordei is illustrated in ASSING (2005f). Based on the details specified by KOCH (1936), the new species is separated from A. testaceus , of which I have seen no material, by the bicoloured body (in A. testaceus uniformly rufotestaceous), larger size, and by the denser puncturation of the forebody.

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 one locality situated in the Greek island Rhódos, off the southwest Anatolian coast. The types were apparently collected on a river bank; further bionomic data are not available.

Figures

Figs 60-70: Aphaenostemmus rhodicus sp.n. (60-63) and Oxypoda cretica sp.n. (64-70). (60, 64) habitus; (61, 65) forebody; (62) head and pronotum; (63, 67) antenna; (66) head in lateral view; (68) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view; (69) apex of median lobe of aedeagus in ventral view; (70) apical lobe of paramere. Scale bars: 60, 64: 1.0 mm; 61-63, 65-67: 0.5 mm; 68-70: 0.1 mm.