Typhlotectusa, Assing, 2019

Assing, Volker, 2019, A new genus of Oxypodina from Kyrgyzstan (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Aleocharinae, Oxypodini), Linzer biologische Beiträge 51 (2), pp. 1357-1362 : 1358

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.3745466

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3809577

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03F0B427-E926-1969-EEE0-FD84D2717E06

treatment provided by

Valdenar

scientific name

Typhlotectusa
status

gen. nov.

Genus Typhlotectusa View in CoL nov.gen. ( Figs 1-10 View Figs 1-6 View Figs 7-10 )

T y p e s p e c i e s: Typhlotectusa frischi nov.sp.

E t y m o l o g y: The new name (gender: feminine) alludes to the complete absence of eyes and the superficial resemblance to species of the oxypodine genus Tectusa.

D e s c r i p t i o n: Species of small body size and slender habitus ( Fig. 1 View Figs 1-6 ).

Head ( Figs 2-3 View Figs 1-6 ) large in relation to pronotum, of orbicular shape, strongly convex in cross-section; postgenal carinae visible only posteriorly in lateral view; gular sutures broadly separated. Antenna ( Fig. 4 View Figs 1-6 ) moderately long, strongly incrassate apically, and with strongly transverse antennomeres IV-X. Eyes completely absent ( Fig. 3 View Figs 1-6 ). Labrum strongly transverse. Right mandible with pronounced molar tooth. Maxillary palpus ( Fig. 7 View Figs 7-10 ) with relatively short palpomeres. Labium ( Fig. 4 View Figs 1-6 ) with 3-jointed palpi, palpomeres moderately slender; ligula short, but slender, apically bilobed.

Pronotum ( Fig. 2 View Figs 1-6 ) slender, broadest anteriorly, only slightly broader than head. Elytra slender, of reduced length. Legs relatively short; all tarsi five-jointed; metatarsomere I shorter than combined length of metatarsomeres II and III. Ventral aspect of thorax not distinctive.

Abdomen slender, broadest at segments VI-VII; tergites III and IV with moderately deep, tergite V with shallow, and tergite VI without anterior impressions.

♂: sternite VIII ( Fig. 6 View Figs 1-6 ) with weakly convex posterior margin, not produced in the middle; morphology of the median lobe of aedeagus ( Figs 8-9 View Figs 7-10 ) of the Oxypoda type; paramere ( Fig. 10 View Figs 7-10 ) with relatively short and broad apical lobe.

♀: unknown.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Based on external characters and particularly the morphology of the aedeagus (shape and internal structures of median lobe; shape of apical lobe of paramere), the new genus belongs to the Oxypodina . Among the genera of this subtribe, it is characterized particularly by a slender habitus, a strongly convex head (cross-section) with strongly incrassate antennae, relatively short maxillary palpomeres, and a slender bilobed ligula, by a short metatarsomere I, and by the shape of the male sternite VIII (posteriorly not produced). In external appearance, the genus somewhat resembles Tectusa, from which it is additionally distinguished by a shorter and basally or medially undilated apical lobe of the paramere.

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 distribution of this genus is currently confined to East Kyrgyzstan, Middle Asia ( Map 1 View Map 1 ). The adaptive reductions of the eyes, hind wings, and pigmentation, as well as the available ecological data suggest that the type species is adapted to a high-altitude habitat.

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Insecta

Order

Coleoptera

Family

Staphylinidae

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