Quedius (Raphirus) spiculatus, Assing, 2017

Assing, Volker, 2017, On Quedius coloratus FAUVEL, 1875 and allied species, with an appendix on Quedius species collected in Greece with subterranean pitfall traps, and a new synonymy (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Staphylininae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 49 (1), pp. 207-228 : 221

Quedius (Raphirus) spiculatus nov.sp. (Figs 14, 19, 22, 26, 37-39, 48, 55, 58, Map 1 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype 3: "TR [24] - Samsun 26 km NNE Havza , 800 m, 41°11'16''N, 35°45'44''E, Quercus-Carpinus for., 19.VII.2008, V. Assing / Holotypus 3 Quedius spiculatus sp. n., det. V. Assing 2017" (cAss) . Paratypes: 13, 1♀: same data as holotype, but leg. Schülke ( MNB) ; 1♀: "TR [23] - Samsun, 21 km NNE Havza , 950 m, 41°08'47"N, 35°45'15"E, Quercus-Carpinus for., 19.VII.2008, M. Schülke " ( MNB) ; 333: "TR [15] - Tokat, 16 km ENE Tokat , 915 m, 40°21'45"N, 36°44'25"E, mixed deciduous forest, 16.VII.2008, M. Schülke " ( MNB, cAss) ; 13: TR [13] - Tokat, 20 km ENE Tokat , 1000 m, 40°22'07"N, 36°46'42"E Quercus - Carpinus for., 16.VII.2008, M. Schülke " (cAss) .

E t y m o l o g y: The specific epithet is the past participle of the Latin verb spiculare (to sharpen) and alludes to the apically acute median lobe of the aedeagus in lateral view.

D e s c r i p t i o n: Measurements (in mm) and ratios (range, arithmetic mean) (n = 8): TL: 9.3-12.3, 10.2; HL: 1.25-1.39, 1.34; HW: 1.53-1.69, 1.62; PL: 1.76-1.95, 1.85; PW: 1.90-2.11, 2.03; EL: 1.09-1.25, 1.18; HTiL: 1.55-1.69, 1.62; HTaL: 1.28-1.37, 1.30; ML: 1.35-1.42, 1.38; HW/HL: 1.19-1.23, 1.21; PW/HW: 1.24-1.27, 1.25; PL/PW: 0.89 - 0.94, 0.91; EL/PL: 0.59-0.67, 0.64; HTiL/HTaL: 1.18-1.31, 1.25. Female of slightly larger average size than male.

External (Fig. 14) and sexual characters similar to those of Q. hebes , except as follows:

3: median lobe of aedeagus (Figs 26, 37-38, 48) apically acute and not bent dorsad in lateral view, also more acute in ventral view; paramere (Figs 39, 55) with more than 40 peg-setae.

♀: tergite X (Fig. 19) of similar shape as in Q. hebes , but posterior excision slightly larger; segments IX and X as in Fig. 22.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Quedius spiculatus is reliably distinguished from Q. hebes only by the shape of the median lobe of the aedeagus, especially in lateral view. It differs from Q. coloratus by the presence of additional punctures near the posterior frontal puncture on the head, by the different morphology of the larger aedeagus (little overlap; see measurements ML and Fig. 58 ), and by the much smaller posterior excision of the female tergite X.

D i s t r i b u t i o n a n d n a t u r a l h i s t o r y: This species is currently known only from four localities in Samsun and Tokat provinces, North Turkey. All the specimens were sifted from leaf litter of mixed deciduous forests (mostly composed of Quercus and Carpinus) at altitudes of 800-1000 m.

Figures

Map 1: Distributions of Quedius hellenicus (black diamonds), Q. sp. 2 (white stars), Q. carpathius (black stars), Q. spiculatus (white triangles), Q. hebes (white circles), and Q. coloratus (black circles) in the East Mediterranean.

Fig. 58: Length of median lobe of aedeagus in relation to body size, given as an approximation of the combined area of head and pronotum, in Quedius coloratus and allied species.