Geostiba (Tropogastrosipalia) pungens, Assing, 2011

Assing, V., 2011, A revision of Geostiba of the West Palaearctic region. XXI. Eight new species from Turkey and the Caucasus, a new synonymy, and additional records (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 43 (2), pp. 1135-1158 : 1141-1143

Geostiba (Tropogastrosipalia) pungens nov.sp. ( Figs 14-20 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype: "TR [26b] - Isparta, 10 km SE Sütçüler , 1520 m, 37°24'55''N, 31°02'21''E, calcareous slope, stones, 26.IV.2011, V. Assing / Holotypus Geostiba pungens sp. n. det. V. Assing 2011" (cAss) . Paratypes: 3, 8: same data as holotype (cAss) ; 13 exs.: same data, but leg. Wunderle (cWun) ; 3: same data as holotype, but "[26a] ... sifted" (cAss). D e s c r i p t i o n: External characters ( Figs 14-15 ) as in G. fodens , except as follows: Coloration paler: head dark-brown ; pronotum pale-reddish; elytra dark-yellowish; abdomen with segments III-IV reddish and V-VII more or less extensively blackish; antennae dark-brown, with the basal antennomere(s) reddish.

(with fully developed secondary sexual characters): pronotum slightly broader, approximately 1.1 times as wide as long, posterior margin more broadly convex and in the middle indistinctly concave; elytra with deeper, more clear-cut, and more distinctly diagonal impressions ( Figs 14-15 ), otherwise as in G. fodens ; shape of spine ( Fig. 16 ) on abdominal tergite VII as in G. fodens ; median lobe of aedeagus approximately 0.24 mm long and with very fine cristal process ( Fig. 17 ).

: proximal portion of spermatheca not twisted ( Figs 18-19 ).

I n t r a s p e c i f i c v a r i a t i o n: The extent of intraspecific variation of the male secondary sexual characters is similar to that of G. fodens .

E t y m o l o g y: The specific epithet is the present participle of the Latin verb pungere (to sting) and alludes to the spine-like shape of the cristal process of the aedeagus.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Geostiba pungens is evidently closely allied to G. fodens , as is suggested by the similarly modified male pronotum, male elytra, and male abdominal segment VII, as well as by the similar shape of the median lobe of the aedeagus. However, the observed differences in coloration, shape of the male pronotum, the modifications of the male elytra, and the shape of the spermatheca appear to be constant. Also, the type localities of both species are separated by a deep and broad valley, and the Turkish representatives of Tropogastrosipalia generally have very restricted distributions. Therefore, the observed differences are attributed to interspecific variation.

In order to account for both G. fodens and G. pungens , the key in ASSING (2009) is modified as follows:

77: posterior margin of pronotum broadly truncate or (broadly or narrowly) concave in the middle (large). (Note that in small of G. kastamonuensis , a species with a distinctive cristal process of the median lobe of the aedeagus, the pronotal hind margin is smoothly convex.)................................................................................78

-: posterior margin of pronotum weakly to distinctly pointed or smoothly convex, not truncate or concave. For one species from central southern Anatolia with enormous sutural carinae and without appreciable sexual dimorphism of the pronotum ( G. lunata ), a second species from Isparta ( G. pungens ) with a very fine cristal process of the aedeagus ( Fig. 16 ), in which the pronotal hind margin is of intermediate and variable condition ( Figs 14-15 ), and a third species ( G. attaleensis ) from the environs of Akseki in eastern Antalya, which may be variable in this respect, follow this alternative.....................................................................................91

107: pronotum with posterior margin convex (sometimes very indistinctly concave in the middle). Northern and southwestern Anatolia....................................................107a

-: pronotum with posterior margin (in G. nemrutica indistinctly) pointed in the middle. Southern Anatolia (E-Antalya and eastwards)..............................................108

107a: median lobe of aedeagus with broad dagger-shaped cristal process (figure 21 in ASSING 2009). N-Anatolia: Kastamonu: Hasan Dağı ....................... G. hasanica ASSING

-: median lobe of aedeagus with very fine and short cristal process. SW-Anatolia: Isparta .......................................................................................................................107b

107b Pronotum dark-brown to blackish-brown; abdomen completely blackish or with indistinctly paler abdominal segments III-IV.: pronotum more slender and more narrowly elongated posteriorly, middle of posterior margin strongly convex, not concave in the middle ( Fig. 9 ); median lobe of aedeagus as in Fig. 11 .: spermatheca with proximal portion of capsule twisted ( Fig. 12 ). Davraz Tepe ............... ............................................................................................................ G. fodens nov.sp.

- Pronotum pale-reddish to reddish-brown; anterior abdominal segments reddish.: pronotum broader and with more broadly convex posterior margin, middle of posterior margin sometimes indistinctly concave ( Figs 14-15 ); median lobe of aedeagus as in Figs 17 .: spermatheca with proximal portion of capsule not twisted ( Figs 18-19 ). Kuyucak Dağı ................................................. G. pungens nov.sp.

D i s t r i b u t i o n a n d n a t u r a l h i s t o r y: Thetypelocalityissituatedto the southeast of Sütçüler in the Kuyucak Dağı. The specimens were sifted from grass roots and collected from under stones on a calcareous, grassy slope ( Fig. 20 ) at an altitude of 1520 m, together with an undescribed species of Sunius.

Figures

Figs 14-19: Geostiba pungens nov.sp. (14: holotype): (14-15) male forebody; (16) male abdominal tergite VII in lateral view; (17) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view; (18-19) spermatheca. Scale bars: 14-15: 0.5 mm; 16-19: 0.1 mm.

Fig. 20: Type locality of Geostiba pungens nov.sp. (photo: P. Wunderle).

Figs 9-12: Geostiba fodens nov.sp.: (9) male forebody (holotype); (10) male abdominal tergite VII in lateral view; (11) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view; (12) spermatheca. Scale bars: 9: 0.5 mm; 10-12: 0.1 mm.