Afropselaphus clavigeroides (REITTER, 1882)

Brachat, Volker & Assing, Volker, 2021, The Afropselaphus fauna of South Turkey and the Middle East (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Pselaphinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 53 (2), pp. 545-568 : 547-548

Afropselaphus clavigeroides group

All the species treated in the present study are closely allied to Afropselaphus clavigeroides and the four named Afropselaphus species from Crete. As can be inferred from the original description of A. clavigeroides , which was described based on "ein Exemplar von Beirut " ( REITTER 1882), the holotype most likely is a female (short antennomeres; sternite IV unmodified). According to BESUCHET (1960), the holotype is deposited in the natural history museum in Paris. Owing to the current restrictive loan policy of this institution, a revision of the holotype was not possible, so that the present interpretation of A. clavigeroides follows BESUCHET (1960), who based his redescription on two males, one from Lebanon and one from Galilee (North Israel), and illustrated the male from Lebanon. It can be inferred from the results of the present study, however, particularly the restricted distributions of the individual species, that the specimen from

North Israel is unlikely to be conspecific with that from Lebanon.

The A. clavigeroides group is characterised as follows:

Body ( Figs 1, 4 ) 1.60-2.00 mm long, reddish-yellow to reddish, glossy, and with sparse long suberect setae arranged in series on the elytra and the abdomen.

Head ( Figs 1, 4 ) short, 1.3-1.4 times as long as broad, dorsally with two posteriorly converging carinae; vertex with a deep and broad median impression extending from the pair of distinct tomentose intraocular foveae nearly to the posterior margin of the head. Eyes distinctly convex and composed of 4-8 ommatidia. Antennae long, with mostly oblong antennomeres. Maxillary palpomere IV glossy; apical club at least half as long a total length of palpomere, apically notched and with longitudinal sulcus.

Pronotum ( Figs 1, 4 ) distinctly convex in cross-section, approximately 1.1 times as long as broad, broadest in the middle, and slightly broader than head; lateral margins smoothly convex; basally with two distinct tomentose lateral ante-basal foveae; median ante-basal fovea absent to distinct.

Elytra ( Figs 1, 4 ) approximately 1.3 times as long as pronotum, each with two basal impressions separated by a short keel; humeral angles obsolete; lateral margins weakly convex in dorsal view; posterior margin with suberect pubescence. Hind wings completely reduced. Metaventrite ( Figs 5-6 ) smoothly convex in cross-section.

Abdomen ( Figs 1, 4 ) slightly shorter than pronotum and elytra combined; tergite IV large, approximately 1.5 times as long as elytra and longer than combined length of remaining tergites combined, basally with a transverse and sometimes medially interrupted band of dense scaly pubescence and a broad medio-basal impression extending approximately to middle of tergite; sternite IV ( Fig. 2 ) large, longer than remaining sternites combined, basally with a transverse band of dense scaly pubescence ( Fig. 5 ).

♁: aedeagus symmetric; median lobe 2-3 times as long as broad and with broad parameres apically extending approximately to apex of median lobe; internal sac with few and simple sclerotized internal structures of species-specific shapes.

In view of the remarkable uniformity of external characters of the species of the A. clavigeroides group and in order to avoid repetition the following descriptions focus on basic measurements and diagnostic characters, primarily the male sexual characters.

Figures

Figs 1-4: Afropselaphus clavigeroides (1-3) and A. muglanus nov.sp. (4): (1, 4) habitus; (2) ventral aspect of body; (3) pro- and mesothorax in ventral view. Scale bars: 1-2, 4: 1.0 mm; 3: 0.2 mm.

Figs 5-8: Afropselaphus wolfi nov.sp. (5), A. pisidicus nov.sp. (6), A. clavigeroides (7), and A. muglanus nov.sp. (8): (5-6) male thorax in ventral view; (7-8) aedeagus in dorsal view. Scale bars: 5-6: 0.5 mm; 7-8: 0.1 mm.