Aleochara (Echochara) elisabethae Klimaszewski & Larson

Klimaszewski, Jan, Larson, David J., Labrecque, Myriam & Bourdon, Caroline, 2016, Twelve new species and fifty-three new provincial distribution records of Aleocharinae rove beetles of Saskatchewan, Canada (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae), ZooKeys 610, pp. 45-112 : 49-50

Taxon classification Animalia Coleoptera Staphylinidae

Aleochara (Echochara) elisabethae Klimaszewski & Larson sp. n. Figs 1-7

Holotype

(female). Canada, Saskatchewan, Bowie Ranch, 20 km NW Piapot, sand dunes, 29-V-2008, D. Larson (LFC). Paratype. Canada, Alberta, Empress, Alberta - Saskatchewan border, 5-VIII-1981, Lot 1, B.F. & J.L. Carr (CNC) 1 male.

Etymology.

This species is named for Dr. Élisabeth Gauthier, research director at LFC, for her continuous support of beetle biodiversity research in Canada.

Diagnosis.

Body compact, narrowly oval (Fig. 1); head and abdomen dark brown, almost black, with pronotum, elytra and appendages orange (Fig. 1); length 3.8-4.3 mm; forebody with strong and dense meshed microsculpture; pubescence moderately dense; punctation coarser on eltra than elsewhere (Fig. 1); elytra at suture shorter than pronotum at middle length (Fig. 1); antennomeres V-X strongly transverse (Fig. 1); mesosternum not carinate. MALE. Tergite VIII shallowly emarginate apically (Fig. 3); sternite VIII rounded apically and slightly produced medially (Fig. 4); median lobe of aedeagus with tubus arcuate ventrally and with sharp apex, internal sac with elongate structures (Fig. 2). FEMALE. Tergite VIII emarginate apically (Fig. 5); sternite VIII rounded apically and slightly produced (Fig. 6); spermatheca with C-shaped tubular capsule, and short stem (Fig. 7).

This species is readily distingushed from remaining Nearctic species of subgenus Echochara by its strongly transverse and orange pronotum (dark brown or black in remaining species), arcuate tubus of median lobe of aedeagus with sharp apex (Fig. 2), and C-shaped swollen capsule of spermatheca (Fig. 7), which is narrower and club- or L-shaped in other species, and by the emarginated male and female tergite VIII (Figs 3, 5).

Distribution.

This species is known from the type localities in AB and SK.

Natural history.

The female holotype was captured on a dead ground squirrel in sand dunes. The male was collected in August from unspecified habitat. Species of subgenus Echochara are known from caves and animal burrows ( Klimaszewski 1984).