Oxypoda (Thliboptera) apennina, Assing, 2012

Assing, V., 2012, On the taxonomy and zoogeography of some Oxypoda species of the West Palaearctic region (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 44 (1), pp. 365-399 : 373-374

Oxypoda (Thliboptera) apennina nov.sp.

( Figs 5-7 , Map 2 )

Type material: Holotype: " Italien, Lazio, Lago di Bracciano, ca. 1 km südl. des Ortes , I. Wolf leg. 21.05.1998 / Holotypus Oxypoda apennina sp.n. det. V. Assing 2011" ( cAss) . Paratypes: 3 exs.: same data as holotype (cSch) ; 5 exs.: " Italien, Lazio, 50 km n. Monte Cassino, Passo di Forca D'Acero , I. Wolf leg. 15.05.1998 " (cSch, cAss) ; 1 [teneral]: " Italien, Lazio, Lago di Vico , Monti Cimino ca. 700 m, s. San Martino al Cimino, I. Wolf leg. 23.05.1998 " (cAss) ; 3, 1: "I Abruzzen, Pso. Lanciano , Majelletta (BR 12), 21.IX.77, Brandmayr" (cAss) ; 1 m: "I: P. Lanciano, Majelletta, Faggeta, 21.IX.1977, Brandmayr leg." (cAss) ; 4, 4: "I. Abruzzen, G. San Leonardo, Orthilia, Fagetum, 21.IX.77, Brandmayr" (cAss) ; 2, 2: "I. Basilicata, M. Pollino; Fagetum, Bodenfalle, 20.IX.77, Brandmayr" (cAss) ; 1: " Lucania Pollino, Coppola di Paola ( CS), pend. S, 1800-1900 m, 8.VII.85, l. Angelini" (cAss) ; 1, 1: " Italia: Campania, Reg. Salerno, Mti. Alburni, W San Rufo, Passo di Sentinella , 900 m, 10.X.2000, leg. I. Wolf " (cSch, cAss) ; 1, 1 ex.: " Italia P. Lanciano, Majelatta, Fagetta, 21.09.1977, Brandmayr (BR 11)" (cSch) ; 1: " Italia mer. M. Pollino, Asyneumato-Fagetum, 20.09.1977, 6,5 Trappole, 1/20 Picoli (BR 3), leg. Brandmayr " (cSch) ; 1: " Italia - Basilicata, Parco N. d. Pollino, ca. 1500 m, Umgeb. Rif. de Gasperi , leg. I. Wolf, 16.06.- 06.07.2001 " (cAss) .

Description: Relatively large species, body length 4.5-5.8 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 5 . Coloration: head dark-reddish to blackish-brown; pronotum and elytra reddish; abdomen dark-brown to blackish brown, usually with the apex and sometimes also the anterior tergites dark-reddish to reddish-brown; legs reddish to reddish-brown; antennae brown to dark-brown, with the basal three antennomeres reddish.

Head and pronotum with very dense and extremely fine, barely noticeable punctation and with shallow microsculpture. Punctation of elytra very dense and fine, but much more distinct than that of head and pronotum.

Pronotum relatively large, approximately 1.20-1.25 times as broad as long, at least approximately 1.5 times as broad as head, broader than elytra at humeral angles, and almost as broad as elytra at posterior margin. Elytra approximately 0.75 times as long as pronotum. Hind wings (always?) fully developed. Abdomen with very dense punctation, with or without shallow microsculpture.

: sternite VIII posteriorly broadly convex or indistinctly angled in the middle; median lobe of aedeagus ( Fig. 6 ) large, approximately 0.8 mm long; ventral process apically of similar shape as in O. referens and O. attenuata ; apical internal structures large and long; ventro-apical internal tube of constant and characteristic shape.

: posterior margin of sternite VIII weakly concave in the middle and with row of numerous modified, stout marginal setae; spermatheca similar to that of other species of the subgenus ( Fig. 7 ).

Etymology: The specific epithet (adjective) alludes to the Apennine, the mountain range where the type specimens were collected.

Comparative notes: Oxypoda apennina is distinguished from all its consubgeners by the morphology of the aedeagus, from most of them additionally by the reddish pronotum and elytra. The geographically close O. referens is smaller, less distinctly bicolored (pronotum and elytra reddish brown to brown), and has a much more slender body with a relatively narrower pronotum (approximately 1.35 times as broad as head). The sometimes similarly coloured O. togata is much smaller and has a much smaller (approximately 0.6 mm) aedeagus of completely different shape. The similarly coloured O. platyptera is on average smaller, more slender, has hind wings of strongly reduced length (extending little beyond posterior margin of elytra when unfolded), and an aedeagus with the ventral process and the apico-ventral tube of completely different shape.

Distribution and natural history: Oxypoda apennina has been found in several localities in the southern Apennines ( Map 2 ). Two external similar specimens from Sicily were examined, but since some differences (particularly regarding the apico-ventral tube) were observed in the aedeagus, they are not included in the type series. More material is needed to assess whether these differences are an expression of intra- or of interspecific variation.

The specimens with labels specifying additional data were collected at altitudes of 700- 1900 m, at least some of them in beech forests. One specimen collected in May is teneral.

Figures

Map 2: Distributions of Oxypoda attenuata MULSANT & REY (squares), O. appenina nov.sp. (triangles), and O. acutior nov.sp. (open diamonds), based on revised records.

Figs 1-9: Oxypoda platyptera FAIRMAIRE (1), O. attenuata MULSANT & REY from Sardinia (2), O. referens KRAATZ (3-4), O. apennina nov.sp. (5-7), and O. acutior nov.sp. (8-9): (1-4, 6, 8) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view; (5) habitus; (7, 9) spermatheca. Scale bars: 5: 1.0 mm; 1-4, 6, 8: 0.5 mm; 7, 9: 0.1 mm.