Reichenbachia parkeri Carlton, 2008

Carlton, Christopher E., 2010, 1 March 2010 A New Species of Reichenbachia Leach (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae) from Great Smoky Mountains National Park, U. S. A., The Coleopterists Bulletin 64 (1), pp. 39-41 : 39-40

Reichenbachia parkeri Carlton , new species ( Figs. 1–6 )

Type Material (slashes indicate label breaks). Holotype. Point mounted male: “TN, Blount Co. GSMNP ATBI Plot: Cades Cove Malaise Trap 04/ -83° 50.17, 35° 35.31 RHightower JBurbank 8–21 May 2001 MT0420010521 / HOLOTYPE Reichenbachia parkeri Carlton Det. Carlton 2008 .” Deposited in Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL . Paratypes (n=2). Disarticulated male in glycerine tube: “ Tennessee: Blount Co. GSMNP. Cades Cove ATBI Plot. Malaise Trap MT-0420010423. 9–23 April 2001. R. Hightower/ PARATYPE Reichenbachia parkeri Carlton Det. Carlton 2008 .” Deposited in Louisiana State Arthropod Museum, Baton Rouge, LA. Point-mounted male: “ Tennessee: Blount Co. GSMNP. Cades Cove ATBI Plot. MT-0420011203. 19 Nov.–3 Dec. 2001. J. Burbank and R. Hightower/ PARATYPE Reichenbachia parkeri Carlton Det. Carlton 2008 .” Deposited in Great Smoky Mountains National Park Collection, Gatlinburg, TN .

Diagnosis. Reichenbachia parkeri differs from all other North American Reichenbachia species in the form of the internal sac and parameres of the aedeagus. Male specimens run to R. hardyi Park in the key included in my revision of eastern species (Carlton 2003), but the vertexal foveae are much larger and the aedeagus is quite different. In R. hardyi , the aedeagal parameres converge and fuse apically to a symmetrical, truncate apex. By contrast, the parameres in R. parkeri are distinct and divergent, with separate acute apices.

Description of Male. Measurements (mm): total length 2.50; head length 0.40, head width across eyes 0.35; pronotal length 0.40, pronotal width 0.40; elytral length 0.60, elytral width at base 0.40, elytral maximum width 0.80; abdominal length 0.60, abdominal width across base 0.70. Color medium brown, appendages slightly paler. Vestiture short, decumbent; punctures fine. Head ( Fig. 3 ): vertexal foveae large, separated by two times their widths; frontal fovea present. Clypeofrontal region unmodified. Mandibular margins unmodified. Antennae unmodified. Legs: pro- and metathoracic legs unmodified; each mesocoxa bearing a rounded posterior-median tubercle; each mesotibia bearing a blunt, preapical spine ( Fig. 4 ). Abdomen: striae of tergite 1 extending one-fourth length of tergite, separated basally by 0.20 tergal width, distally by 0.25 tergal width, maximum angle of divergence 20° ( Fig. 5 ); visible ventrites 2–4 flattened medially; 5–6 concave. Aedeagus ( Fig. 6 ): diaphragm covering median one-half of phallobase; parameres asymmetrical, right elongate and strongly arcuate laterally near midpoint, diverging 70° from midline at apex, left short and oriented longitudinally, both evenly narrowed to acute apices; phallobasal lip triangular; internal sac symmetrical, bearing a pair of narrow lateral struts extending one-half total length and a pair of narrow median struts extending to apex.

Female. Unknown.

40 THE COLEOPTERISTS BULLETIN 64(1), 2010

Etymology. This species is named after Dr. Charles “Chuck” Parker, Aquatic Biologist, U.S. Geological Survey, one of the original organizers and a long time contributor to the ATBI in GSMNP, and champion of the “structured protocol”.

Distribution and Habitats. Reichenbachia parkeri is known from three specimens collected in the same Malaise trap set near the southwestern corner of Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park during spring and late fall 2001. Cades Cove is a broad valley, approximately 1,000 ha in size, located in the western part of the national park. The area immediately surrounding the trap was wooded, in contrast to the pastures and meadows that cover most of the Cove. According to Bratton et al. (1980) citing King et al. (1968), it “is a limestone window formed where older sandstones and shales were thrust over younger limestones, now exposed on the broad valley floor”. In addition to large pastures, the valley also contains wooded swamps and seasonally flooded meadows. These are preferred habitats of numerous other Reichenbachia species (Carlton 2003) , and R. parkeri probably inhabits one or both of them. Only one other species of the genus, R. hardyi , is known from the park, also from Cades Cove.

Figures

Figs. 1–2. Reichenbachia parkeri, adult male habitus. 1) Dorsal view; 2) Lateral view.

Figs. 3–5. Reichenbachia parkeri, adult male. 3) Dorsal view, head; 4) Ventral view, mesothoracic leg; 5) Dorsal view, tergite 1.

Fig. 6. Reichenbachia parkeri, dorsal view, aedeagus.