Leptusa (Neopisalia) substricta, Assing, 2017

Assing, Volker, 2017, On the Leptusa fauna of the Caucasus region (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 49 (2), pp. 1049-1074 : 1065

Leptusa (Neopisalia) substricta nov.sp. ( Figs 1-5 , Map 7 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype 3: "N 41°57'28 E 43°28'52, GG Shida Kartli (25), Kvishkheti 1300 m, Meybohm 24.7.2016 / Holotypus 3 Leptusa substricta sp. n. det. V. Assing 2016" (cAss).

E t y m o l o g y: The specific epithet (Latin, adjecive) alludes to the subapically constricted ventral process of the aedeagus.

D e s c r i p t i o n: Body length 3.1 mm; length of forebody 1.4 mm. Coloration: body black; legs pale-brown; antennae blackish-brown with antennomeres I-II and the base of III reddish.

Head ( Fig. 1 ) as broad as long; punctation moderately coarse and moderately dense; interstices with distinct microreticulation. Eyes rather large, longer than postocular region in lateral view. Antenna 0.65 mm long, distinctly incrassate apically; antennomeres IV weakly transverse, antennomeres V-X of increasing width and increasingly transverse, and X more than twice as broad as long.

Pronotum ( Fig. 1 ) 1.3 times as broad as long and nearly 1.2 times as broad as head; maximal width approximately in the middle; posterior angles obtusely marked; punctures very dense and large, but shallow; interstices with pronounced microsculpture.

Elytra ( Fig. 1 ) long, 1.15 times as long as pronotum; punctation very dense and distinctly coarser than that of head and pronotum; interstices with shallow microreticulation, but with some shine. Hind wings not examined.

Abdomen slightly narrower than elytra; punctation moderately fine, dense on tergite III, gradually decreasing in density towards posterior tergites; interstices with microreticulation; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe; tergites VII and VIII with sexual dimorphism.

3: tergite VII with moderately pronounced median keel in posterior half; tergite VIII ( Fig. 2 ) with median keel posteriorly, posterior margin weakly bisinuate; posterior margin of sternite VIII ( Fig. 3 ) distinctly pointed in the middle; median lobe of aedeagus ( Fig. 4 ) 0.42 mm long and of distinctive shape; paramere ( Fig. 5 ) longer than median lobe, 0.52 mm long, apical lobe long and slender, nearly half as long as basal portion of paramere.

♀: unknown.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Leptusa substricta is distinguished from all other Neopisalia species by the subapically long and slender ventral process of the aedeagus (lateral view), by the shape of the dorso-apical structure (lateral view), and also by the combination of black coloration, long elytra, and rather coarse punctation of the forebody. Species with an aedeagus at least faintly resembling that of L. substricta are all confined to northern Anatolia. For illustrations of the genitalia of previously described Neopisalia species see PACE (1989, 1996) and ASSING (2002, 2003a, 2007, 2011).

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: The type locality is situated to the southwest of Khashuri in the northern foothills of the Lesser Caucasus ( Map 7 ). The low altitude (1300 m), the fact that at present only a single specimen is known, as well as the long elytra and large eyes suggest that L. substricta may be relatively widespread and an inhabitant of a cryptic subterranean habitat. According to MEYBOHM (pers. comm.), the holotype was sifted from leaf litter in a beech forest.

Figures

Map 7: Distributions of species of the subgenus Neopisalia in the Caucasus region: L. gibbera (black circles), L. subnivalis (white circles), L. migrituber (white diamonds), L. svanetica (black diamond), L. substricta (white star), L. triangulata (black star), and L. sica (black triangles).

Figs 1-8: Leptusa substricta nov.sp. (1-5) and L. svanetica nov.sp. (6-8): (1, 6) forebody; (2) male tergite VIII; (3) male sternite VIII; (4, 7) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view; (5) paramere; (8) spermatheca. Scale bars: 1: 0.5 mm; 2-3, 6: 0.2 mm; 4-5, 7: 0.1 mm; 8: 0.05 mm.