Proteinus abditus, Assing, 2007

Assing, Volker, 2007, Proteinus crenulatus - a complex of five species (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Proteininae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 57 (2), pp. 355-366 : 361-362

Proteinus abditus sp. n. ( Figs 7-12 , Map 2 )

Type material:

Holotype ♂: "22.10.85, Marburg, Dachsbau, leg. Wunderle / Holotypus ♂ Proteinus abditus sp. n. det. V. Assing 2007" (cAss) . Paratypes: 1 ♂: same data as holotype, but "12.10.85" (cAss) ; 1 ♂: same data as holotype, but "15.10.85" (cWun) ; 1 ♂: "Leutra b. Jena, 31.10.88, Malt /

Proteinus cruentatus [sic] det. J. Vogel " (cVog); 1 ♂: "Herkulesbad, Mosoroni, 14.8.33 / Proteinus brachypterus det. Hänel / Proteinus crenulatus Pand., P. Dauphin det. 99" ( MNHUB) .

Material probably referring to this species, but not included in the type series: Romania: 1 ♀: "Herkulesbad, Mosoroni, 14.8.33" ("MNNUB); 1 ♀: "Herkulesbad, Mosoroni, 7.6.32" ( MNHUB); 1 ♀: "Herkulesbad, Pve. Musironi, 15.5.31" ( MNHUB).

Description:

Body length 2.3-2.6 mm; width of pronotum 0.65-0.75 mm. Pronotum 1.70-1.75 times as wide as long. External morphology, including the male secondary sexual characters, as in P. crenulatus , except for the slightly more transverse pronotum; reliably distinguished only by the morphology of the aedeagus.

♂: aedeagus larger, approximately 0.45-0.48 mm long; ventral process strongly sinuate in lateral view and apically weakly bent; dorsal plate large, strongly bent and with acute apex in lateral view; flagellum stout, short, bent both in lateral and in ventral view, and more distinctly sclerotised than in P. crenulatuscrenulatus ( Figs 7-12 ).

Etymology: The name (Latin, adjective: hidden, secret, cryptic) refers to the subterraneous habitat where some of the types were collected, as well as to the fact that this species has remained undiscovered so long even in Central Europe.

Comparative notes:

From other species of the P. crenulatus group, this species is reliably separated only based on the morphology of the aedeagus, especially the shape of the apex of the ventral process, of the flagellum in the internal sac, and of the dorsal plate.

Distribution and bionomics:

The known distribution of P.abditusabditus is confined to Germany (two localities) and Romania (1 locality) ( Map 2 ). The type specimens from Marburg were collected by baiting badger burrows .

Figures

Map 2: Distributions of Proteinus abditus sp. n. (open squares), P. angulatus sp. n. (filled squares), P. hamatustus sp. n. (open circles), and P. tronqueti sp. n. (filled circles) in Europe.

Figs 2-11: Proteinus crenulatus PANDELLÉ (2-6) and P. abditus sp. n. (7-11): aedeagus in lateral view (2-10) of males from France (2-3; 2: lectotype), northern Spain (4), northern Italy (5), northern Greece (6), Germany (7-9; 7: holotype; 8: Hessen; 9: Thüringen), and Romania (10); apical part of aedeagus in dorsal view of male from Romania (11). Scale bars: 0.1 mm.

Figs 12-21: Proteinus abditusabditus sp. n. (12), P.angulatusangulatus sp. n. (13-17), P. tronquetitronqueti sp. n. (18-19), and P. hamatus sp. n. (20-21): apical part of aedeagus in lateral view (12, 17); aedeagus in lateral view (13-15, 18-21) of males from Greece (13; holotype), Sicily (14), Basilicata (15), Corsica (18-19; 18: holotype), northern Spain (20; holotype), and southwestern France (21); apical part of aedeagus in dorsal view (16). Scale bars: 0.1 mm.