Geostiba (Typhlusida) simaica, Assing, 2008

Assing, V., 2008, Nine new species and additional records of Staphylinidae from southern Spain, with new synonymies (Insecta: Coleoptera), Linzer biologische Beiträge 40 (2), pp. 1301-1325 : 1306-1308

Geostiba (Typhlusida) simaica nov.sp. ( Figs 6-16 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype: "E - Castilla-La Mancha, Sierra de Segura, Calar de Sima, 1430 m, [4], 38°20'46"N, 02°29'11"W, 15.III.2008, V. Assing / Holotypus Geostiba simaica sp.n. det. V. Assing 2008 (cAss). Paratypes: 15, 27: same data as holotype (cAss, OÖLL).

D e s c r i p t i o n: Body length 2.5-3.0 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 6 . Coloration: head dark-brown; pronotum brown to dark-brown, usually slightly paler than head; elytra pale-brown to brown, of similar colour as pronotum or paler; abdomen with segments VI-VII blackish-brown to blackish; segments III-V brown to dark brown, usually more or less distinctly paler than VI-VII; apex of abdomen (segments VIII-X) reddish brown; legs yellowish; antennae brown to dark-brown, often with the basal three antennomeres slightly paler.

Head approximately as wide as long; eyes in dorsal view approximately 1/4 the length of postocular region or slightly longer, not projecting from lateral outline of head ( Fig. 7 ); punctation sparse and very fine; interstices glossy, with very shallow, barely noticeable microreticulation.

Pronotum slender, 1.05-1.10 times as wide as long, and 1.10-1.15 times as wide as head; with weakly pronounced sexual dimorphism; microreticulation as shallow as that of head ( Fig. 7 ).

Elytra slightly wider than, and at suture approximately 0.65 times as long as pronotum ( Fig. 7 ); sexual dimorphism pronounced; microsculpture similar to that of pronotum. Hind wings reduced.

Abdomen approximately 1.1 times as wide as elytra; punctation sparse and very fine, barely noticeable; microsculpture shallow, but more distinct than that of forebody; posterior margin of tergite VII without palisade fringe; tergites VII-VIII sexually dimorphic.

: pronotum along the middle extensively depressed or shallowly impressed, punctation dense and distinct ( Fig. 7 ); elytra amost matt, at suture distinctly elevated and coarsely, densely, and granulosely punctate; postero-lateral areas of elytra more or less distinctly impressed and with less coarse and less dense punctation ( Fig. 7 ); abdominal tergite VII at posterior margin with oblong median tubercle ( Fig. 8 ); tergite VIII with a pair of denticles in the middle of posterior margin ( Figs 8-9 ); posterior margin of sternite VIII almost regularly convex ( Fig. 10 ); median lobe of aedeagus as in Fig. 13 ; apical lobe of paramere short and stout ( Fig. 14 ).

: pronotum without median impression and with finer average punctation; elytra more or less glossy, not distinctly elevated at suture, with or without very shallow posterolateral impressions, and with sparse, fine, and non-granulose punctation; posterior margin of tergite VIII weakly convex, in the middle indistinctly concave ( Fig. 11 ); posterior margin of sternite VIII weakly convex, in the middle concave and with stout long marginal setae ( Fig. 12 ); spermatheca as in Figs 15-16.

E t y m o l o g y: The name is derived from the Calar de Sima, the mountain range where the type locality is situated.

I n t r a s p e c i f i c v a r i a t i o n: The male secondary sexual characters (pronotal punctation, elytral punctation, elytral elevations and impressions, tubercle on tergite VII, shape of posterior margin of tergite VIII) are subject to considerable variation. They are usually more pronounced in large males and more or less reduced in smaller males.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: The geographically closest congeners of the subgenus Typhlusida CASEY 1906 are G. vidua PACE 1983 from the Sierra de Alcaraz and G. segurae ASSING 2003 from the Sierra de Segura. The new species is distinguished from the former by different coloration ( G. vidua : forebody uniformly pale reddish to reddishbrown, abdominal segments VI-VII brown to dark brown, antennae reddish to reddishbrown), less pronounced microsculpture of the head and pronotum, more distinct punctation of the pronotum, more pronounced modifications of the male elytra, a more pronounced tubercle on the male tergite VII, the distinctly denticulate posterior margin of the male tergite VIII, as well as by the shape of the aedeagus and the spermatheca (much shorter duct of different shape). It is separated from the variably coloured G. segurae particularly by the more pronounced modifications of the male elytra (in large males), the narrower tubercle on the male tergite VII, the distinctly dentate posterior margin of the male tergite VII, the reduced crista apicalis of the median lobe of the aedeagus, and by the shape of the spermatheca (less dilated capsule, duct shorter and stouter). For illustrations and descriptions of the external and sexual characters of G. segurae and G. vidua see ASSING (2003a).

D i s t r i b u t i o n a n d b i o n o m i c s: The type locality is identical to that of Paraleptusa andujari (see above). The type specimens were collected by sifting grassroots beneath a Crataegus bush.

Figures

Figs 6-16: Geostiba simaica nov.sp.: (6) male habitus; (7) male forebody; (8) male abdominal segments VI-VIII; (9) male tergite VIII; (10) male sternite VIII; (11) female tergite VIII; (12) female sternite VIII; (13) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view; (14) apical lobe of paramere; (15-16) spermatheca. Scale bars: 6: 1.0 mm; 7: 0.5 mm; 8-16: 0.1 mm.