Gyrophaena (Gyrophaena) aldersonae Klimaszewski & Webster

Webster, Reginald P., Klimaszewski, Jan, Bourdon, Caroline, Sweeney, Jon D., Hughes, Cory C. & Labrecque, Myriam, 2016, Further contributions to the Aleocharinae (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae) fauna of New Brunswick and Canada including descriptions of 27 new species, ZooKeys 573, pp. 85-216 : 158-161

Taxon classification Animalia Coleoptera Staphylinidae

Gyrophaena (Gyrophaena) aldersonae Klimaszewski & Webster sp. n. Figs 352-355

Holotype (male).

Canada, New Brunswick, York Co., 15 km W of Tracy, off Rt 645, 45.6848 N, 66.8821°W, 21-28.VI.2009, R. Webster & M.-A. Giguère, coll. // Red pine forest, Lindgren funnel trap (LFC). Paratypes: Canada, New Brunswick, Queens Co., Cranberry Lake P.N.A., 46.1125°N, 65.6075°W, 11-18.VI.2009, R. Webster & M.-A. Giguère, coll. // Red oak forest, Lindgren funnel trap (1 ♂, RWC); same data except 2.IX.2009, R.P. Webster, coll. // Red oak forest, polypore (bracket) fungus on side of log (1 ♀, RWC). Restigouche Co., Dionne Brook P.N.A., 47.9030°N, 68.3503°W, 30.V-15.VI.2011, M. Roy & V. Webster // Old-growth northern hardwood forest, Lindgren funnel trap (1 ♂, RWC); same data except 28.VII-9.VIII.2011 (1 ♂, RWC). York Co., Charters Settlement, 45.8395°N, 66.7391°W, 19.V.2006, R.P. Webster, coll. // Mixed forest, on polypore fungus on log (1 ♂, LFC).

Etymology.

This species is named in honor of Chantelle Alderson who helped collect many species reported in this and other papers.

Description.

Body length 1.7 mm, short, robust, oval, head, pronotum, elytra, and abdomen dark brown, elytra with small paler, reddish area on each shoulder and one along suture, appendages yellowish (Fig. 352); integument with weak meshed microsculpture on head and pronotum and strong on elytra, strongly glossy; pubescence short and sparse, appressed to integument; head small with protruding eyes, almost half as wide as pronotum; pronotum narrow, strongly transverse, broadest at base, almost as wide as elytra at base, and strongly narrowed apicad, pubescence directed posteriad; elytra broader than pronotum, widest posteriorly, pubescence directed pos teriad; abdomen widest at base, tapering apicad. Male. Median lobe of aedeagus with tubus long, broad, and narrowly elongate, apex sharp, produced ventrally in lateral view (Fig. 353); tergite VIII transverse, apical margin with two acute pronounced teeth separated by about one-third width of tergite, with an arcuate emargination between them and shallower ones on either side (Fig. 354); sternite VIII transverse, evenly arcuate apically (Fig. 355). Female. Unknown.

Distribution.

Known only from NB, Canada.

Natural history.

Gyrophaena aldersonae were captured in Lindgren funnel traps in a red oak forest and an old-growth northern hardwood forest. Two individuals were collected from a polypore (bracket) fungus on the sides of logs. Adults were collected from May to September.

Comments.

Gyrophaena aldersonae is a distinct species in the Nearctic fauna, and males have a uniquely shaped tergite VIII (Fig. 354) and median lobe of the aedeagus in lateral view (Fig. 353). The shape of the median lobe and apical part of male tergite VIII are somewhat similar to those of Gyrophaena joyioides Wüsthoff reported from Croatia and the Caucasus (Lohse in Lohse 1974, Seevers 1951).