Geostiba (Tropogastrosipalia) gecmisica, Assing, 2009

Assing, V., 2009, A revision of Geostiba of the Western Palaearctic region. XIX. New species from Turkey and Iran and additional records, with an updated key and a catalogue of the species of the Eastern Mediterranean, the Caucasus, and adjacent regions (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 41 (2), pp. 1191-1246 : 1195-1197

Geostiba (Tropogastrosipalia) gecmisica nov.sp. ( Figs 1-8 )

Holotype Ƌ: "TR [35] - Kastamonu, 25 km SE Tosya , 40°56'20"N, 34°12'30"E, 1580 m, pasture, 8.IV.2009, V. Assing / Holotypus Ƌ Geostiba gecmisica sp. n. det. V. Assing 2009" (cAss) . Paratypes: 1Ƌ, 3♀♀: same data as holotype (cAss) ; 3ƋƋ, 2♀♀: same data as holotype, but leg. P. Wunderle (cWun, cAss) .

D e s c r i p t i o n: Body length 2.2-2.8 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 1 . Coloration: head and abdomen blackish, occasionally with abdominal segments III-IV somewhat paler brown; pronotum reddish; elytra yellowish to reddish-yellow; legs yellowish; antennae brown, with antennomeres I-III reddish.

Head weakly oblong, 1.05-1.10 times as long as wide ( Figs 2-3 ); punctation extremely fine, barely noticeable; surface with shallow microreticulation. Eyes of moderate size, approximately half as long as postocular region in dorsal view ( Fig. 4 ).

Pronotum 1.15-1.25 times as wide as head, with pronounced sexual dimorphism ( Figs 2- 3 ); punctation extremely fine, barely noticeable; microreticulation similar to that of head or slightly more pronounced.

Elytra with pronounced sexual dimorphism, 0.50-0.55 times as long as pronotum ( Figs 2- 3 ); microsculpture very shallow, less pronounced than that of head and pronotum. Hind wings reduced.

Abdomen as wide as, or slightly wider than elytra; punctation very fine and sparse; microreticulation distinct, but shallow; posterior margin of tergite VII without palisade fringe; anterior tergites without, tergite VII with pronounced sexual dimorphism; posterior margin of tergite VIII weakly convex in both sexes.

Ƌ (with fully developed secondary sexual characters): pronotum distinctly produced posteriorly, middle of posterior margin broadly truncate, lateral margins posteriorly distinctly sinuate; elytra with sparse and distinctly granulose punctation, sutural carinae absent, lateral margins with somewhat oblique carinae, these carinae most pronounced in posterior half, (almost) reaching posterior margin of elytra ( Fig. 2 ); tergite VII posteriorly with moderately long and apically acute (lateral view), semi-erect median spine-like process ( Fig. 5 ); median lobe of aedeagus as in Fig. 6 .

♀: pronotum with almost regularly and broadly convex posterior margin, lateral margins not distinctly sinuate; elytra with finer, at most weakly granulose punctation and without lateral carinae ( Fig. 3 ); tergite VII unmodified; spermatheca not distinctive ( Fig. 7 ).

E t y m o l o g y: The name (adjective) is derived from the Geçmiş Dağı, the mountain range where the type locality is situated.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Usingthekey inASSING (2005a), G. gecmisica would key out at couplets 71-72, together with G. kastamonuensis (Kastamonu: Ilgaz Dağları) and G. artvinensis ASSING 2001 (Artvin) . It is distinguished from the latter by the darker coloration of the head and the pronotum, the smaller size and more slender body, the differently shaped male pronotum ( G. artvinensis : more oblong, lateral margins posteriorly at most weakly sinuate, posterior margin in the middle concave), the presence of lateral carinae and absence of sutural carinae on the male elytra, the strongly granulose punctation of the male elytra, the longer spine on the male tergite VII, and the differently shaped cristal process of the aedeagus. From G. kastamonuensis , its geographically closest consubgener, it is separated by smaller average size, paler average coloration of the pronotum and the elytra, the differently shaped male pronotum ( G. kastamonuensis : lateral margins not distinctly sinuate, posterior margin not broadly truncate), the presence of lateral carinae and absence of sutural carinae on the male elytra, the more slender and apically more acute spine on the male tergite VII (lateral view), and by the differently shaped cristal process of the aedeagus. For illustrations of G. kastamonuensis and G. artvinensis see ASSING (2000b, 2001a).

D i s t r i b u t i o n a n d b i o n o m i c s: As can be inferred from the restricted distributions of other Turkish representatives of the subgenus Tropogastrosipalia , the species is probably endemic to the Geçmiş Dağı, Kastamonu province, northern Anatolia. The type specimens were collected in a stony pasture, under stones near snowfields, at an altitude of 1580 m ( Fig. 8 ).

Figures

Figs 1-7: Geostiba gecmisica nov.sp. (1-2, 4-7: holotype): (1) male habitus; (2) male forebody; (3) female forebody; (4) head in lateral view; (5) male tergites VI-VIII in lateral view; (6) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view; (7) spermatheca. Scale bars: 1: 1.0 mm; 2-3: 0.5 mm; 4-5: 0.2 mm; 6-7: 0.1 mm.

Fig. 8: Type locality of G. gecmisica nov.sp. (photo: P. Wunderle).