Cephennium tenuissimum, Assing, 2021

Assing, Volker, 2021, On the Cephennium fauna of the Iberian Peninsula and the Atlantic Islands (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 52 (2), pp. 891-931 : 922

Cephennium tenuissimum nov.sp. ( Figs 11 , 22 , 52-53 , Map 1 )

Type material: Holotype ♂: "E – Murcia, S. de Espuna , Prado Mayor 1100 m, 37°53'18N, 01°33'53W, leg. Andujar 29.3.2007 / Holotypus ♂ Cephennium tenuissimum sp. n. det. V. Assing 2020" ( cAss) . Paratypes: 1♂, 6♀♀: same data as holotype ( cAss).

Etymology: The specific epithet is the superlative of the Latin adjective tenuis (thin, slim) and alludes to the conspicuously slender habitus.

Description: Minute species; body length 0.8-0.9 mm. Habitus ( Fig. 11 ) conspicuously slender, body rather weakly convex in cross-section. Colouration reddish-yellow.

Eyes completely reduced, without so much as rudiments left. Antenna strongly incrassate; antennomeres III-X transverse, V-VII approximately twice as broad as long, and VIII–X more than twice as broad as long.

Pronotum very slender, approximately as long as broad, broadest near anterior angles, weakly convex in cross-section, with indistinct median sulcus in posterior half; punctation moderately dense and fine, barely noticeable; interstices without microsculpture.

Elytra slender and weakly convex in cross-section, broader than pronotum, anteriorly each with a tomentose impression; supra-humeral carina moderately distinct, approximately as long as the combined length of the basal four to five antennomeres; punctation fine; interstices without microsculpture.

♂: tibiae without distinct modifications; metaventrite shallowly impressed; aedeagus ( Figs 52-53 ) broad, 0.23 mm long; ventral process of triangular shape and apically acute; internal structures very small; parameres basally broad, gradually tapering apicad, apically moderately thin and with short apical seta, reaching apex of median lobe.

Comparative notes: Cephennium tenuissimum is readily distinguished from all other Iberian congeners by its conspicuously slender habitus, strongly incrassate antennae, the complete absence of eyes, and by the shape of the aedeagus.

Distribution and natural history: The type locality ( Fig. 22 ) is identical to that of C. espunae ( Map 1 ). Unlike that species, however, the type material of C. tenuissimum was not sifted, but exclusively collected by soil-washing.

Figures

Map 1: Distributions of Cephennium spp. in the Iberian Peninsula: C. constrictum (black triangle); C. validum (black circles: examined material; white circles: based on Besuchet unpubl.)); C. conlectior (white triangle); C. algarvense (black diamonds); C. espunae (white star); C. tenuissimum (white star); C. tensum (black star).

Figs 7-11: Male habitus of Cephennium asturicum (7), C. filabresicum (8), C. espunae (9), C. tensum (10), and C. tenuissimum (11). Scale bar: 1.0 mm.

Figs 21-22: Type localities of Cephennium filabresicum (21; above) and of C. espunae and C. tenuissimum (22; below).

Figs 46-58: Cephennium catalonicum (46-47), C. filabresicum (48), C. espunae (49), C. tensum (50), C. andujari (51), C. tenuissimum (52-53), C. tensum (54-56; 56: C. p. algeciranum), and C. ibericum (57-58): (46, 48-54, 57) aedeagus in lateral and in dorsal view; (47, 55-56, 58) internal structures of aedeagus. Scale bar: 0.1 mm; 47, 55-56, 58: without scale. 46-47, 54-58: based on Besuchet (unpubl.).