Leptusa (Stictopisalia) flagellulifera, Assing, 2009

Assing, V., 2009, New species, new synonymies, and additional records of Leptusa from Turkey and Iran (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 41 (2), pp. 1285-1305 : 1290-1292

Leptusa (Stictopisalia) flagellulifera nov.sp. ( Figs 4-9 , 16-20 , Map 2 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype 3: "TR [27a] - Kastamonu, 15 km N Tosya, Ilgaz geç., 41°07'32"N, 34°04'12"E, 1660 m, 6. VI.2009, V. Assing / Holotypus 3 Leptusa flagellulifera sp.n. det. V. Assing 2009" (cAss) . Paratypes: 13, 2♀♀: same data as holotype (cAss, OÖLL) ; 1♀: same data, but leg Wunderle (cWun) ; 13, 3♀♀: "TR [30a] - Kastamonu, 40 km NW Kastamonu , 41°34'04"N, 33°20'22"E, 1270 m, mixed forest, 9. VI.2009, V. Assing (cAss) ; 2♀♀, same data, but "[30] ... 7.IV.2009 " (cAss) ; 2♀♀: same data, but leg. Wunderle (cWun) .

D e s c r i p t i o n: 2.7-3.3 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 1 . Coloration: body blackish-brown to blackish; legs reddish; antennae dark-brown, with the basal 2-3 antennomeres reddish.

Head weakly transverse; punctation rather sparse, fine, and shallow, barely visible in the pronounced microsculpture; eyes weakly protruding from lateral contours of head, approximately as long as postocular region in dorsal view ( Fig. 5 ). Antenna moderately incrassate apically; antennomere IV approximately as long as wide, X little more than 1.5 times as wide as long.

Pronotum approximately 1.25 times as wide as long and 1.2 times as wide as head; maximal width in anterior half; punctation extremely fine, barely noticeable in the pronounced microreticulation ( Fig. 5 ).

Elytra without sexual dimorphism; approximately as wide as or slightly wider than pronotum, at suture approximately 0.7 times as long as pronotum; humeral angles weakly pronounced, but noticeable ( Fig. 5 ); punctation rather dense, much more pronounced than that of pronotum; microsculpture shallow, interstices with some shine. Hind wings reduced.

Abdomen subparallel, widest at segment VI, approximately 1.2 times as wide as elytra; punctation extremely fine, sparser on posterior than on anterior tergites; microsculpture distinct everywhere; tergites VII-VIII without sexual dimorphism; tergite VIII anteriorly with numerous gland openings ( Fig. 16, 20 ); posterior margin of tergite VII with narrow palisade fringe.

3: sternite VII unmodified ( Fig. 17 ), anteriorly with numerous gland openings ( Fig. 19 ); sternite VIII posteriorly obtusely angled ( Fig. 18 ); median lobe of aedeagus ( Figs 6-7 ) with ventral process smoothly sinuate, not angled; internal structures of characteristic morphology, flagellum short; apical lobe of paramere as in Fig. 8 .

♀: posterior margin of sternite VIII broadly convex; spermatheca as in Fig. 9.

E t y m o l o g y: The name (Latin, adjective: carrier of a small flagellum) alludes to the short flagellum in the internal sac of the aedeagus, one of the characters distinguishing L. flagellulifera from similar consubgeners.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Five species of the subgenus Stictopisalia SCHEERPELTZ 1966 were previously known from Turkey: L. artviniensis PACE 1982 (Trabzon, Rize, Artvin), L. fibula ASSING 2003 (Ordu, Giresun, Gümüşhane, Trabzon), L. ionopolitana PACE 1982 (Kastamonu) , L. amisensis PACE 1982 (Samsun; male sexual characters unknown), and L. merkli BERNHAUER 1900 (Istanbul, Kocaeli, Sakarya, Bursa). The new species is distinguished from all of them by the characteristic morphology of the median lobe of the aedeagus and additionally as follows:

from L. artviniensis by much darker coloration, much smaller and more slender body, distinctly less pronounced microsculpture of the head and pronotum, less coarse punctation of the elytra, and unmodified male sternite VII ( L. artviniensis : posterior margin in the middle distinctly, broadly concave and furnished with long setae);

from L. fibula by larger size, uniformly dark coloration, not distinctly granulose punctation of the elytra, and slightly more pronounced microsculpture of the abdomen;

from L. ionopolitana by uniformly blackish coloration ( L. ionopolitana : bicoloured, reddish with infuscate preapical abdominal segments);

from L. merkli by the smaller and more slender body, the more pronounced microsculpture of the whole body and consequently barely noticeable punctation of head and pronotum and rather matt appearance ( L. merkli : whole body conspicuously glossy; punctation of head and pronotum distinct).

For illustrations of the above species see PACE (1989) and ASSING (2003a). Leptusa flagellulifera is readily distinguished from L. amisensis , whose male sexual characters are unknown, by the much darker coloration alone.

D i s t r i b u t i o n a n d b i o n o m i c s: Leptusa flagellulifera was found in two localities in Kastamonu province, central northern Anatolia ( Map 1 ). The type specimens were sifted from leaf litter of a mixed fir and pine forest (near and under snow) and of a mixed forest with fir, pine, and beech at altitudes of 1270 and 1660 m.

Figures

Map 1: Distributions of Leptusa confinis PACE (open circles) and L. diecki PACE (filled circles).

Map 2: Distributions of four species of the subgenus Stictopisalia in northern Turkey, based on revised records: Leptusa ionopolitana PACE (open circles), L. fibula ASSING (filled circles), L. amisensis PACE (open square), and L. flagellulifera nov.sp. (filled squares).

Figs 1-9: Leptusa janczyki PACE, holotype (1-3) and L. flagellulifera nov.sp. (4-9): (1) pronotum and elytra; (2) male tergite VII; (3, 6-7) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view; (4) habitus; (5) forebody; (8) apical lobe of paramere; (9) spermatheca. Scale bars: 4: 1.0 mm; 1-2, 5: 0.5 mm; 3, 6- 9: 0.1 mm.

Figs 10-20: Leptusa persica nov.sp. (10-15) and L. flagellulifera nov.sp. (16-20): (10) habitus; (11) forebody; (12) antennna; (13, 16) male tergite VIII; (14, 18) male sternite VIII; (15) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view; (17) male sternite VII; (19) medio-basal portion of male sternite VII; (20) basal portion of male tergite VIII. Scale bars: 10: 1.0 mm; 11: 0.5 mm; 12-14, 16-18: 0.2 mm; 15, 19-20: 0.1 mm.