Thaumastocephalus kirini Hlaváč, Bregović & Jalžić, 2019

Hlaváč, Peter, Bregović, Petra & Jalžić, Branko, 2019, Endogean and cavernicolous Coleoptera of the Balkans. XVIII. Strong radiation in caves of the Central Dinarides: seven new species of Thaumastocephalus Poggi et al., 2001 (Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae), Zootaxa 4559 (1), pp. 90-110 : 92

Thaumastocephalus kirini Hlaváč, Bregović & Jalžić , sp. n.

( Figs 2 , 14 )

Etymology. This species is named after speleologist Alen Kirin, a member of the Croatian Biospeleological Society (CBSS) and collector of the first specimen from the type locality.

Material studied. HOLOTYPE: Ƌ: CROATIA: Metković , Desne, Rujnica, Varda. Jamica u docima (cave), 17. VI.2015, B. Jalžić lgt. (CNHM). PARATYPES (7♀): 2♀: same data as holotype; 4♀: same data as holotype but collected on 30. IV .2010 by A. Kirin ( CNHM, CPH); 1♀: same data as holotype but collected on 16.IX.2016 by B. Jalžić ( CNHM) .

Description. Body shiny ( Fig. 14 ), reddish-brown, covered with dense, uneven setae, with long setae on posterior part of elytra, setae lacking on disc of elytra; legs, antennae and maxillary palpi slightly lighter, length 1.96 mm, maximum width of elytra 0.68 mm. Head 1.32 times as long as wide, 0.79 times narrower than pronotum, rostrum 3.00 times as wide as long. Antennae about 0.82 mm long, scape 2.57 times as long as pedicel, antennomere III slightly longer than IV, antennomeres IV–VII of same length, VIII slightly shorter than VII and as long as IX, antennomere X about as long as VII, terminal antennomere 3.10 times as long as X, relative length of antennomeres: 1.00 / 0.39 / 0.28 / 0.25 / 0.25 / 0.25 / 0.25 / 0.22 / 0.22 / 0.25 / 0.78. Pronotum 1.10 times as long as wide. Elytra 1.22 times as wide as long and 1.40 times as long as pronotum. Abdomen 1.14 times as long as elytra. Legs long, protibiae slightly modified, slightly depressed in apical half, median spine minuscule, mesotibiae simple, metatibiae simple. Aedeagus ( Fig. 2 ) 0.49 mm long, with basal bulb about 1.15 times as long as apical part, right paramere more robust than left, both with three preapical setae, internal sac with one spiral structure, dorsal diaphragm present.

Sexual dimorphism. Females lacking modification of protibiae.

Differential diagnosis. T. kirini is readily separated from all other known species of the genus by: 1) frontal tibiae at most with minuscule tooth, 2) body length under 2 mm, 3) terminal antennomere short, less than 4 times as long as antenommere X, 4) elytra long, more than 1.3 times as long as pronotum, and 5) short rostrum which is about 3 times as wide as long.

Distribution and habitat. T. kirini is known only from the cave Jamica u docima ( Figs 13, 15 ), situated at 345 m a.s.l. near peak Varda (517 m) and village Desne ( Fig. 30 , violet star). The cave is a vertical shaft, 10.2 m deep and 5 m long. The air temperature measured in the cave on 30th April 2010 was 10.1 °C and the relative humidity was 98 %. The following fauna is also recorded from the cave: Isopoda— Alpioniscus verheoffi (Strouhal, 1938) as noted by Bedek et al. 2011; Coleoptera— Neotrechus sp., Speonesiotes sp. (det. B. Jalžić), and Bryaxis scapularis (Reitter, 1881) as noted by Bekchiev and Hlaváč (2016).

Figures

FIGURE 30. Distribution map of the species of the genus Thaumastocephalus mentioned in this work.

FIGURES 1–4. 1—Thaumatocephalus bilandzijae sp. n., aedeagus, dorsal view (scale: 0.1 mm); 2—Thaumatocephalus kirini sp. n., aedeagus, dorsal view (scale: 0.2 mm); 3—Thaumatocephalus marsici sp. n., aedeagus, dorsal view (scale: 0.2 mm); 4—Thaumatocephalus rujnicensis sp. n., aedeagus, dorsal view (scale: 0.1 mm).

FIGURES 13–15. 13—entrance to Jamica u docima (cave), type locality (photo Branko Jalžić); 14—Thaumatocephalus kirini sp. n., habitus in situ (photo Boris Krstinić); 15—topographical map of the type locality (the finding place of the T. kirini sp. n. is marked with red dots).