Geostiba (Tropogastrosipalia) aequa, 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 : 1144-1146

Geostiba (Tropogastrosipalia) aequa nov.sp. ( Figs 21-25 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype: "N 37°27'20 E 034°38'33, Türkei, Nigde, Madenköy , 1615- 1870 m, 17.4.2011, Brachat & Meybohm (11/12) / Holotypus Geostiba aequa sp.n. det. V. Assing 2011" (cAss) . Paratypes: 3: same data as holotype (cAss) ; 1: "TR - Adana (6), ö. Pozanti → Armutoluğu , 1310 m; 16.IV.2011, N37°26'8; E34°55'03, leg. Meybohm & Brachat" (cAss) .

D e s c r i p t i o n: Small species, 2.0- 2.6 mm. Coloration: head dark-brown to blackish; pronotum and elytra yellowish-red, distinctly contrasting with the head; abdomen yellowish-red to reddish with segments V-VII more or less extensively infuscate; legs yellowish; antennae reddish to pale-brown, with the basal antennomeres reddish-yellow.

Head weakly oblong; punctation sparse and extremely fine, barely noticeable; interstices only with traces of microsculpture and glossy; eyes weakly convex and small, less than half as long as postocular portion in dorsal view ( Fig. 21 ).

Pronotum approximately as wide as long and about 1.2 times as wide as head, without sexual dimorphism ( Fig. 21 ); posterior margin broadly convex; punctation very fine and barely noticeable; microsculpture more pronounced than that of head.

Elytra ( Fig. 21 ) with distinct sexual dimorphism, approximately half as long as pronotum, or slightly longer.

Abdomen slightly broader than elytra; anterior tergites without sexual dimorphism; punctation very fine and sparse; interstices with distinct, but shallow microsculpture; posterior margin of tergite VII with or without indistinct rudiment of a palisade fringe.

(with fully developed secondary sexual characters): elytra with a pair of clusters of 3- 5 granula (no carina) near apex of scutellum, lateral margins fold-like and elevated, punctation distinctly granulose ( Fig. 21 ); abdominal tergite VII with relatively short, suberect, not very stout (lateral view), and apically narrowed (antero-dorsal view) median spine at posterior margin ( Figs 22-23 ); median lobe of aedeagus approximately 0.26 mm long, cristal process rather slender ( Fig. 24 ).

: elytra unmodified and with fine punctation; proximal portion of spermatheca twisted

( Fig. 25 ).

E t y m o l o g y: The specific epithet (Latin, adjective: equal, similar) refers to the absence of a sexual dimorphism of the pronotum, one of the characters separating this species from most geographically close consubgeners.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: UsingthekeyinASSING (2009), G. aequa would key out at couplets 96-98. In order to accommodate the new species, the key is modified as follows:

96 Pronotum without or with weakly pronounced sexual dimorphism (up to 1.15 times as long as wide, posterior margin broadly convex) in large males, posterior margin more or less distinctly convex ( Fig. 21 ; figures 2, 30, 37 in ASSING 2009). Western (three species) and southern Anatolia (one species)....................................................................97

- Pronotum with more pronounced sexual dimorphism, either distinctly elongated posteriorly (and covering scutellum) or posterior margin pointed in the middle. Southern Anatolia (Antalya, Mersin)................................................................................99

97 Small (2.0- 2.6 mm) and distinctly bicoloured species from central southern Anatolia (Niğde, Adana).: process of tergite VII shaped as in Figs 22-23 ; aedeagus with slender cristal process ( Fig. 24 ).: spermatheca as in Fig. 25 .................. G. aequa nov.sp.

- Species from western Anatolia. Character combination different................................... 97a

97a: process of tergite VII short, stout, and apically obtuse (figures 41-42 in ASSING 2006); aedeagus with larger cristal process (figure 43 in ASSING 2006). Muğla: Oyuklu Dağ (Map 3 in ASSING 2006) .................................................................. G. renneri ASSING

-: process of tergite VII long, slender, and apically acute (figures 5, 32 in ASSING 2006). median lobe of aedeagus with smaller and more slender cristal process (figures 8-9, 33 in ASSING 2006). Distribution different................................................................98

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: The type locality is situated near Maden in the south of Niğde in the northern slopes of the Taurus. Remarkably, one additional male was found some 30 km to the east of this locality, on the other side of a deep valley, in the west of Adana province. Since no morphological differences between the males from both localities could be found, they are attributed to the same species. The specimens from the environs of Maden were sifted from the roots of grass and herbs beneath a bush at an altitude of 1615 m, the male was collected in a mixed cedar and cypress forest at an altitude of 1310 m (MEYBOHM, pers. comm.).

Figures

Figs 21-25: Geostiba aequa nov.sp. (21-24: holotype): (21) male forebody; (22) male abdominal tergite VII in lateral view; (23) posterior portion of male abdominal tergite VII in antero-dorsal view; (24) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view; (25) spermatheca. Scale bars: 21: 0.5 mm; 22- 25: 0.1 mm.