Oxypoda (Thliboptera) acutior, Assing, 2012

Assing, V., 2012, On the taxonomy and zoogeography of some Oxypoda species of the West Palaearctic region (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 44 (1), pp. 365-399 : 374-375

Oxypoda (Thliboptera) acutior nov.sp.

( Figs 8-9 , Map 2 )

Type material: Holotype: " Albania [7], Pogradec, 18 km NNW Pogradec, S Q. e Thanës, 1000 m, 41°03'23''N, 20°36'43''E, 24.V.2010, M. Schülke / Holotypus Oxypoda acutior sp.n. det. V. Assing 2011" ( cAss) . Paratypes: 2, 4, 1sex?: same data as holotype (cSch, cAss) ; 1: same data as holotype, but leg. Assing (cAss) ; 1: " Albania ( Pogradec ), 18 km NNW Pogradec, S Qafa e Thanës 1000 m, 41°03'23''N, 20°36'43''E (dry pasture on lime with oak shrubbery, under stones) 24.V.2010 D.W. Wrase [7]" (cSch) ; 1: " Albania ( Kolonjë ), 5 km SW Ersekë, Mt. Barmashi 1030 m, 40°17'43''N, 20°38'06''E (pasture and field edges, under stones), 28.V.2010, D.W. Wrase [15]" (cSch) .

Description: Body length 4.5-5.3 mm. Coloration: blackish-brown to blackish, usually with the elytra and sometimes also the pronotum slightly paler; legs dark-reddish; antennae dark-brown to blackish-brown, with the basal three antennomeres dark-reddish. External characters as in O. attenuata ; distinguished only by the male primary sexual characters:

: median lobe of aedeagus ( Fig. 8 ) larger, approximately 0.83 mm long; ventral process apically much longer and more acute; apical internal structures larger, longer, and more strongly sclerotised; ventro-apical internal tube of different shape.

: spermatheca as in Fig. 9.

Etymology: The name (Latin, comparative of the adjective acutus) alludes to the apically more acute ventral process of the aedeagus, one of the characters distinguishing this species from the similar O. attenuata .

Comparative notes: Oxypoda acutior is reliably distinguished from most other East Mediterranean consubgeners only by the morphology of the aedeagus. For illustrations of the genitalia of these species see ASSING (2004, 2006a). The only similarly dark-coloured Thliboptera species in the West Mediterranean is O. luctifera from North Africa, which is distinctly smaller. The aedeagus of O. luctifera is figured by TRONQUET (1999). The aedeagus of the geographically close ( Greece) and externally highly similar O. infissa has a ventral process with a longer, more slender (lateral view), and more acute apex, distinctly shorter and smaller apical internal sclerotised structures, and an apico-ventral tube of completely different shape (see figure 128 in ASSING 2006a).

Distribution and natural history: Oxypoda acutior is currently known only from two localities in southern Albania, where the type specimens were collected by turning stones on pastures at an altitude of approximately 1000 m.

Figures

Map 2: Distributions of Oxypoda attenuata MULSANT & REY (squares), O. appenina nov.sp. (triangles), and O. acutior nov.sp. (open diamonds), based on revised records.

Figs 1-9: Oxypoda platyptera FAIRMAIRE (1), O. attenuata MULSANT & REY from Sardinia (2), O. referens KRAATZ (3-4), O. apennina nov.sp. (5-7), and O. acutior nov.sp. (8-9): (1-4, 6, 8) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view; (5) habitus; (7, 9) spermatheca. Scale bars: 5: 1.0 mm; 1-4, 6, 8: 0.5 mm; 7, 9: 0.1 mm.