Gnathymenus rossii, Assing, 2013

Assing, V., 2013, Two new species and a new record of Dolicaonina from Ecuador (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 45 (2), pp. 1541-1547 : 1543

Gnathymenus rossii nov.sp. ( Figs 1-8 , Map 1 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype: " ECUADOR - Cotopaxi, Bosque Integral Otonga , 10.VII.2006, leg. W. Rossi / Holotypus Gnathymenus rossii sp. n. det. V. Assing 2013" (cAss) . Paratypes: 1, 5: same data as holotype (cAss) ; 1: " ECUADOR - Cotopaxi, Canton Sigchos, Las Pampas, Otonga Natural Reserve , 25.-28.VII.2005, leg. W. Rossi " (cAss) .

E t y m o l o g y: This species is dedicated to Walter Rossi from L'Aquila, specialist of Laboulbeniales, who collected most of the material treated in the present paper.

D e s c r i p t i o n: Body length 5.9-6.5 mm; length of forebody 2.8-3.1 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 1 . Coloration: head and pronotum reddish; elytra dark-brown to black, sometimes with bluish hue; abdomen distinctly bicoloured, blackish with bright reddish apex (posterior third of segment VII; segments VIII-X); legs, antennae, and mouthparts reddish.

Head ( Fig. 2 ) transverse, 1.15-1.23 times as broad as long, widest across eyes, weakly tapering behind eyes; punctation rather coarse and sparse; interstices distinctly broader than diameter of punctures, without microsculpture. Eyes rather large and convex, nearly as long as postocular region in dorsal view.

Pronotum ( Fig. 2 ) approximately 1.1 times as long as broad and 0.95 times as broad as head, broadest near anterior angles, and distinctly tapering posteriad; punctation similar to that of head; midline impunctate; interstices without microsculpture.

Elytra ( Fig. 2 ) long, slightly longer than pronotum, and with marked humeral angles; punctation similar to that of head and pronotum; interstices without microsculpture. Hind wings fully developed. Metatarsomere I slightly longer than II.

Abdomen distinctly narrower than elytra; segments III-VI with distinct paratergites; punctation rather sparse, moderately fine on anterior and very fine on posterior tergites; interstices with shallow microsculpture; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe.

: sternites III-VI unmodified; sternite VII ( Fig. 3 ) moderately transverse and with truncate posterior margin, pubescence in the middle convergent; sternite VIII ( Fig. 4 ) weakly transverse, posterior excision deep and narrow, its depth approximately two-thirds the length of sternite; aedeagus ( Figs 5-8 ) approximately 0.9 mm long, slender, and symmetric; parameres apparently completely fused with median lobe.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: The new species is distinguished from all its congeners by the different morphology of the aedeagus. Using to key to females (based on external characters) in HERMAN (1981), G. rossii would key out at couplet 85, together with G. fiscus HERMAN 1981 from Venezuela and G. angulus HERMAN 1981 from Ecuador. Apart from the different male primary and secondary sexual characters, G. rossii is distinguished from both species by much larger size alone ( G. fiscus : 3.5-4.1 mm; G. angulus : 3.5 mm). For illustrations of the male sexual characters of G. fiscus and G. angulus see HERMAN (1981).

D i s t r i b u t i o n: The species was discovered in the Otonga Nature Reserve in Cotopaxi province, Ecuador ( Map 1 ), at an altitude between 1750 and 1950 m. The locality is near 00°25'S, 79°00'W (ROSSI pers. comm.).

Figures

Map 1: Type localities of Gnathymenus rossii nov.sp. (triangle) and Stenolophea caeca nov.sp. (circle).

Figs 1-8: Gnathymenus rossii nov.sp.: (1) habitus; (2) forebody; (3) male sternite VII; (4) male sternite VIII; (5) aedeagus in lateral view; (6-7) aedeagus in ventral view; (8) apical portion of aedeagus in ventral view. Scale bars: 1-2: 1.0 mm; 3-4: 0.5 mm; 5-8: 0.2 mm.