Asida (Asida) dryas, Leo, 2009

Leo, Piero, 2009, Observations on some Tenebrionidae (Coleoptera) from Sardinia, with description of three new Asida *, Zootaxa 2318, pp. 400-420 : 401-404

Asida (Asida) dryas sp. nov.

( Figs 1–3, 6)

Diagnosis. An Asida ascribable to the nominal subgenus for the obvious punctuation of the pronotum and the traces of four more or less developed elytral costae, the third being more marked than the others and the second reaching the base of the elytron. Brown colour, medium size (11.6–15.7 mm), robust body in both sexes; pronotum with flattened and relatively wide lateral margins, disc convex, median basal area clearly more protruding than posterior angles, which are approximately right; sculpture of pronotum sparse on disc, consisting of clearly ocellated punctures, shiny in contrast with the matt spaces between punctures; elytra robust, rounded at sides, strongly enlarged posteriorly; elytral costae poorly developed, basal section of second costa situated at about mid width of base of elytron.

Type locality. SW Sardinia, Cagliari prov. , Capoterra, Gutturu Mannu .

Type series. Holotype ♂: SW Sardinia, Capoterra (Cagliari), Gutturu Mannu , 100 m, 2.X.2005, leg. P. Leo ( MSNG).

Paratypes (192 ♂ and ♀♀): Capoterra (Cagliari prov.), Gutturu Mannu , 100 m: 12.III.2003, leg. C. Meloni, 1 ex. ( CCM) ; 16.III.2004, leg. C. Meloni, 16 ex. ( CCM) ; 21.III.2004, leg. C. Meloni, 19 ex. ( CCM) ; 7.IV.2004, leg. C. Meloni, 7 ex. ( CCM) ; 21.IV.2004, leg. C. Meloni, 2 ex. ( CCM) ; 26.IX.2004, leg. C. Meloni, 27 ex. (25 CCM; 2 CPL) ; 24.X.2004, leg. C. Meloni, 27 ex. (22 CCM; 5 CPL) ; 21.XI.2004, leg. C. Meloni 9 ex. ( CCM) ; 5.XII.2004, leg. C. Meloni, 5 ex. ( CCM) ; 4.I.2005, leg. C. Meloni, 2 ex. ( CCM) ; 6.II.2005, leg. C. Meloni, 2 ex. ( CCM) ; 2.X.2005, leg. P. Leo, 32 ex. (2 CFS; 2 CGG; 2 CGN; 2 CNBF; 21 CPL; 3 MSNG) , leg. C. Meloni, 1 ex. ( CCM) ; 13.X.2005, leg. M. G. Atzori, 5 ex. ( CMA) , leg. P. Leo, 6 ex. ( CPL) ; 31.X.2005, leg. P. Leo, 16 ex. ( CPL) ; 30.III.2006, leg. P. Leo, 11 ex.. (2 CDS; 2 CFS; 2 CLB; 5 CPL) ; 1.X.2008, leg. P. Leo 4 ex. ( CPL) .

Additional material examined. Pula (Cagliari), Pixina Manna , 700 m : 24.VI.1993, leg. C. Meloni, 1 ex. ( CCM) ; 17.I.2002, leg. L. Fancello, 2 ex. ( CCM, CPL) ; 9.X.2002, leg. L. Fancello, 2 ex. ( CPL), leg. C. Meloni, 1 ex. ( CCM) ; 9.VI.2003, leg. L. Fancello, 3 ex. ( CLF) ; 23.XI.2003, leg. L. Fancello, 1 ex. ( CLF). Sarroch (Cagliari), dint ., X.1998, leg. L. Fancello, 1 ex. ( CPL). Sarroch (Cagliari), Flumini Binu, 400 m ,

9.XII.2007, leg. D. Sanna, 2 ex. ( CPL). Sarroch (Cagliari), Rio Monte Nieddu, 120 m , 21.X.1985, leg. P. Leo, 1 ex. ( CPL) ; 30.XI.2000, leg. M. G. Atzori 5 ex. ( CMA). Teulada (Cagliari), Ponte de Is Fogaias, 150 m , 22.X.1990, leg. L. Fancello, 4 ex. ( CPL) .

Description. Total length 11.6–15.7 mm (♂: 11.6–14.3 mm, average 13.1 mm; ♀♀: 13.0– 15.7 mm, average 14.6 mm), body robust in both sexes, colour from red-brown to dark brown, integuments matt.

Head with irregular, very robust punctuation, thicker on frons, sparse on clypeus; bottom of punctures smooth, very shiny, strongly contrasting with spaces between punctures; to each puncture corresponds a halfappressed seta: those on the clypeus are directed forwards, those on the frons are directed backwards.

Antennae relatively robust, slightly slenderer in ♂ ( Fig. 3): in this sex the 6 th and 7 th antennomeres are approximately twice as long as wide, the 8 th and 9 th respectively 1.6 and 1.3 times as long as wide; in the female the 6 th and 7 th antennomeres are about 1.6 times as long as wide, the 8 th and 9 th respectively 1.4 and 1.2 times as long as wide.

Pronotum transverse, about 1.4 times as wide as long with wide, flattened lateral margins and a very convex disc. Sides of pronotum rounded; maximum width posterior to middle; anterior angles acute, posterior ones approximately right. Base of pronotum with lateral sinuosities wide and shallow, median area more protruding backwards compared to posterior angles. Disc of pronotum with robust punctuation, sparser in median area; punctures clearly ocellated, with obvious central tuberculum; bottom of punctures shiny, contrasting with space between punctures which is matt with obvious reticulate microsculpture. Setae of pronotum brown, variable in shape: those of the lateral edge and the median area almost pointed and relatively long, those on the sides of the disc shorter, mostly truncate and at least partly dilated apically.

Elytra short, 1.18–1.32 times as long as wide, with maximum width situated posterior to middle, rounded at sides and rather narrowed at humera, generally slightly more convex in the female sex; basal margin of elytra slightly concave, about as wide as base of pronotum, with a few tubercules between the basal carena of the second dorsal costa and the scutellum. First dorsal costa poorly visible, marked only by groups of small setigerous tubercules, slightly larger and more tightly set than those in the intervals; second costa with rather short basal carena-like section, originating at about the middle of the elytral base, marked on disc and posteriorly by irregular groups of small tubercules, with a tendency to converge towards the vestiges of the first costa and the ramifications of the third; third costa more developed, slightly flexuous, elevated into a continuous carena from just behind the base of the elytron to the apical declivity, usually with a few irregular ramifications towards the second and fourth costae; fourth costa formed by short, irregular carena-like sections and groups of small tubercules; intervals between costae with fine setigerous tubercules, uniformly distributed on elytral disc, sparse near base. Setae brown, those of elytral intervals short, fine, truncate or subtruncate at apex; setae of costae and costa vestiges longer, mostly truncate and, at least in part, clearly dilated at apex. Epipleurae with robust, sparse tubercolation.

Legs robust, with brown setulation; fore tibiae clearly tuberculate on external edge, with relatively robust apical tooth.

Male copulatory organ as in Fig. 6; parameric capsule 3.1–3.4 times as long as wide, shorter than tegmen (length of tegmen/ length of paramere = 1.35–1.45).

Sexual dimorphism: females usually with slightly wider and more convex elytra, but in many cases it is impossible to distinguish the two sexes without extracting the genitalia.

Remarks. Asida dryas sp. nov. seems to be restricted to the south-western extremity of Sardinia ( Fig. 15), precisely in the subregions (cf. Mori 1975) of Caputerra and southern Sulcis. The new species is well differentiated from its numerous Sardinian congeners by the combination of characters listed in the diagnosis; it only slightly resembles A. corsica genei Solier, 1836 , a subspecies of the Corso-Sardinian endemic species widespread in the southern half of Sardinia ( Soldati & Leo 2005); differences between the two are in fact numerous: A. corsica genei is of larger size (13–18 mm) and with a less stocky body; the antennae are longer, with more slender antennomeres ( Fig. 4); the pronotum is more shiny, with the median area of the base not or only slightly more protruding backwards compared to the posterior angles, which are acute; punctuation of disc simple, not ocellated, elytra narrower, subparallel in male; elytral costae even less developed, the basal section of the second costa being closer to the external margin of the elytron than to the suture. Asida dryas is probably more closely related to A. anachoreta sp. nov., described below.

Ecological notes. Asida dryas sp. nov. was found under stones and dry foliage, exclusively in forest biotopes dominated by Quercus ilex or at the edges of these in shrubby-arboreal Mediterranean maquis, at altitudes comprised between 100 and 700m. It seems to be the only species of the genus occurring in these habitats, even though in some localities (Capoterra-Gutturu Mannu, Pula-Pixina Manna) also Asida corsica genei was found, but restricted to more xeric areas (garrigue and degraded maquis). Probably active all year round, but it seems to be more frequent in autumn and spring.

Etymology. From the Latin name, in apposition, Dryas (meaning nymph of the woods), in reference to its ecological characteristics as a forest-dweller, a rare feature in species of the genus Asida .