Geostiba (Tropogastrosipalia) erecta, Assing, 2009

Assing, V., 2009, A revision of Geostiba of the Western Palaearctic region. XIX. New species from Turkey and Iran and additional records, with an updated key and a catalogue of the species of the Eastern Mediterranean, the Caucasus, and adjacent regions (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 41 (2), pp. 1191-1246 : 1203-1204

Geostiba (Tropogastrosipalia) erecta nov.sp. ( Figs 24-31 )

Holotype Ƌ: "N 36°25'01 E 036°06'40, TR Hatay Kizildag , E Madenli, 1120 m, 11.4.2009, Brachat & Meybohm / Holotypus Ƌ Geostiba erecta sp. n. det. V. Assing 2009" (cAss) . Paratypes: 4♀♀: same data as holotype (cAss).

D e s c r i p t i o n: Body length 2.8-3.2 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 24 . Coloration: head dark-brown to blackish; pronotum and elytra reddish to dark-brown; abdomen brown, with segments VI-VII dark-brown, or completely dark-brown to blackish-brown; legs yellowish; antennae brown to dark-brown, usually with antennomeres I-II at least slightly paler.

Head 1.00-1.09 times as long as wide ( Figs 25, 27 ); punctation extremely fine, barely noticeable; surface with very shallow microreticulation. Eyes relatively small, 0.30-0.45 times as long as postocular region in dorsal view.

Pronotum without apparent sexual dimorphism ( Figs 25, 27 ), approximately 1.05 times as wide as long, posterior margin in both sexes weakly and broadly convex, in the middle almost truncate; punctation extremely fine, barely noticeable; microreticulation somewhat more distinct than that of head.

Elytra with moderately pronounced sexual dimorphism, 0.6-0.7 times as long as pronotum ( Figs 25, 27 ); punctation in both sexes fine, not granulose; microsculpture very shallow, less pronounced than that of pronotum. Hind wings reduced.

Abdomen ( Fig. 28 ) usually at least slightly wider than elytra; punctation moderately fine and sparse; microreticulation distinct; posterior margin of tergite VII usually with narrow rudiment of a palisade fringe; tergites IV and V without, VII with sexual dimorphism; posterior margin of tergite VIII weakly convex in both sexes.

Ƌ (with fully developed secondary sexual characters): elytra with pair of erect tubercles near apex of scutellum ( Fig. 26 ), surface without distinct impressions; abdominal tergite VII with long, slender, remarkably erect, and apically acute spine-like process at posterior margin ( Fig. 29 ); median lobe of aedeagus with very slender cristal process ( Fig. 30 ).

♀: spermatheca not distinctive ( Fig. 31 ).

E t y m o l o g y: The name (Latin, adjective) alludes to the erect tubercles on the male elytra and the erect process of the male abdominal tergite VII.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Using the key in ASSING (2005a), the new species would key out at couplets 84-86, together with the geographically close G. simulans PACE 1983 ( Hatay) , G. marasica ASSING 2004 (Kahramanmaraş) , G. hamata ASSING 2003 ( Hatay) , and G. adunca ASSING 2004 (Kahramanmaraş) . It is distinguished from all these species particularly by the erect tubercles on the male elytra, as well as by the shape of the process of the male tergite VII. It is additionally separated from G. simulans and G. marasica by the absence of a dimorphism of the male pronotum and from G. hamata and G. adunca by the short and very slender cristal process of the median lobe of the aedeagus. For illustrations of G. simulans , G. marasica , G. hamata , and G. adunca see PACE (1983b) and ASSING (2003, 2004a), respectively.

D i s t r i b u t i o n a n d b i o n o m i c s: Thespeciesisprobablyendemictothe Kızıl Dağı in western Hatay province, central southern Anatolia. The type specimens were collected by sifting litter and by turning stones at an altitude of 1120 m.

Figures

Figs 24-31: Geostiba erecta nov.sp. (24-26, 28-30: holotype): (24) male habitus; (25-26) male forebody in dorsal and in ventral view; (27) female forebody; (28) male abdomen; (29) male tergites VI-VIII in lateral view; (30) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view; (31) spermatheca. Scale bars: 24: 1.0 mm; 25-29: 0.5 mm; 30-31: 0.1 mm.