Oxypoda (Mycetodrepa) retunsa ASSING, 2019

Assing, Volker, Brachat, Volker & Meybohm, Heinrich, 2019, Monograph of the Staphylinidae of Crete (Greece). Part II. Descriptions of new species (Insecta: Coleoptera), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 69 (2), pp. 239-289 : 259-260

Oxypoda (Mycetodrepa) retunsa ASSING spec. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:D801AADC-CC6A-4E15-8988-BE8CCEA48013

( Figs 47–56 )

Type material: Holotype ♂: “GR – Crete [11a], NW Dikti Oros , Limnakaro , 35°08'08"N, 25°29'00"E, 1170 m, sifted, 27.III.2012, V. Assing / Holotypus ♂ Oxypoda retunsa sp. n. det. V. Assing 2019” (cAss) . Paratypes: 3 ♂♂: same data as holotype (cAss); 1 ♀: same data, but “[10a] ... 26.III.2012 ” (cAss); 1 ♂: same data, but “[17a] ... 30.III.2012 ” (cAss); 1 ♂: “GR – Crete [24a], SW Chania, SW Prases, 35°21'32"N, 23°49'28"E, 740 m, litter sifted, 20.III.2018, V. Assing ” (cAss); 1 ♀: “GR – Crete [33], Lefka Ori, E Kallergi Refuge, 35°19'38"N, 23°57'02"E, 1460 m, litter & grass, 22.III.2018, V. Assing ” (cAss); 1 ♂: “GR – Crete [36], SW Chania, SW Prases, 35°21'30"N, 23°49'40"E, 820 m, sifted, 22.III.2018, V. Assing ” (cAss); 3 ♂♂, 1 ♀: “GR – Crete, Hiraklion, Abelakia Oros, 35°09'52"N, 24°55'36"E, 1030 m, VI.2016 – VI.2018, Giachino & Vailati ” (cAss); 1 ♀: “35°05'17 E25°51'54, GR Ostkreta (2), Thripti 880 m 10.3.2018, l. Brachat & Meybohm ” (cAss); 1 ♀: “ N35°08'45 E25°38'30, GR Lassithi (5), Kritsa s 390 m, 11.3.2018, l. Brachat & Meybohm ” (cAss); 1 ♀: “ N35°21'21 E23°38'21, GR Westkreta (28), Elos 610 m, 21.3.2018, l. Brachat & Meybohm ” (cAss); 1 ♀: “ N25°21'31 E23°49'29, GR Westkreta (30) Prases, 10 km w Omalos 760 m, Brachat & Meybohm 22.3.2018 ” (cAss); 1 ♀: “ N35°19'07 E23°54'46, GR Kreta 1080 m, Omalos E 23.3.2019, Brachat & Meybohm 2019” (cAss) .

Etymology: The specific epithet (Latin, adjective: blunt) alludes to the shape of the apex of the ventral process of the aedeagus (lateral view).

Description: Body length 2.7–3.5 mm; length of forebody 1.2–1.6 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 47 . Coloration: head blackish; pronotum bright reddish; elytra yellowish with the scutellar and the postero-lateral portions more or less distinctly and more or less extensively infuscate; abdomen pale-reddish with segments VI, the posterior portion of segment V, and the anterior portion of segment VII blackish; legs yellowish; antennae dark-brown to blackish-brown with the basal two antennomeres paler; maxillary palpi dark-yellowish with palpomere III often somewhat infuscate.

Head ( Fig. 48 ) approximately as broad as long, with distinct microsculpture and moderately dense and rather fine punctation. Eyes weakly convex, approximately as long as postocular portion in dorsal view. Antenna ( Fig. 49 ) 0.8–0.9 mm long; antennomeres III–X distinctly transverse. Maxillary palpi with palpomere III moderately slender, approximately three times as long as broad.

Pronotum ( Fig. 48 ) relatively small, 1.15 times as broad as long and 1.25–1.30 times as broad as head; punctation denser and more distinct than that of head; interstices with pronounced microsculpture.

Elytra ( Fig. 48 ) 1.00–1.15 times as long as pronotum; punctation dense and fine. Hind wings fully developed. Metatarsomere I longer than the combined length of metatarsomeres I and II, but shorter than the combined length of metatarsomeres I–III.

Abdomen with punctation dense and fine, finer on posterior than on anterior tergites; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe.

♂: sternite VIII ( Fig. 50 ) posteriorly distinctly produced in the middle; aedeagus ( Figs 51–53 ) 0.28–0.32 mm long; ventral process apically short, stout, and rounded in ventral view, apico-laterally with pronounced lateral folds; paramere 0.47–0.50 mm long and shaped as in Fig. 54 .

♀: sternite VIII ( Fig. 55 ) with weakly convex, nearly truncate posterior margin and with weakly modified and rather short marginal setae; spermatheca shaped as in Fig. 56 .

Comparative notes: Based on external (habitus, coloration, punctation) and the primary sexual characters, O. retunsa is most similar and most closely related to the widespread O. formosa KRAATZ, 1856 . It is distinguished from this species by smaller average body size, a more slender habitus, and particularly by a smaller aedeagus with an apically stouter, shorter and more rounded ventral process (lateral view) and with more pronounced apico-lateral folds ( O. formosa : median lobe of the aedeagus 0.35–0.36 mm long). Oxypoda retunsa differs from the similarly small, mostly parthenogenetic O. turcica ZERCHE, 1999 by a more distinctly bicoloured body with a bright reddish pronotum ( O. turcica : pronotum usually yellowish to yellowish-brown), longer elytra, and the shape of the spermatheca. For illustrations of the genitalia of O. formosa and O. turcica see ZERCHE (1999).

Distribution and natural history: The type material was collected in several localities distributed across most of Crete mostly by sifting litter, grass roots, and moss both in forested and unforested habitats; four specimens were collected with subterranean pitfall traps. The altitudes range from 390 to 1460 m. Some specimens collected in March are somewhat teneral.

Figures

Figs 39–56: Cousya candica (39–43), Oxypoda bimontium (44–46), and O. retunsa (47–56): habitus (39, 44, 47); median lobe of aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view (40–41, 51–53); paramere (42, 54); spermatheca (43, 46, 56); forebody (45, 48); antenna (49); male sternite VIII (50); female sternite VIII (55). Scale bars: 39, 44, 47: 1.0 mm; 45, 48: 0.5 mm; 49–50, 55: 0.2 mm; 40–43, 46, 51–54, 56: 0.1 mm.