Liogluta armeniaca, Assing & Vogel, 2017

Assing, Volker & Vogel, Jürgen, 2017, On some Athetini from Armenia and adjacent regions (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 49 (1), pp. 341-368 : 361-363

Liogluta armeniaca nov.sp. ( Figs 108-121 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype 3: " ARMENIA [39] - 25 km SW Kapan, 39°04'01''N, 46°16'10''E, 2150 m, near stream, sifted, 10. VII.2016, V. Assing / Holotypus 3 Liogluta armeniaca sp. n. det. V. Assing 2017" (cAss) . Paratypes: 733, 3♀♀: same data as holotype (cAss, cVog, MNB) ; 1♀: same data as holotype, but leg. Schülke ( MNB) ; 1♀: " ARMENIA [9] - S Martuni, Sulema Pass, 39°57'58''N, 45°14'13''E, 2340 m, near stream, 29. VI.2016, V. Assing (cAss); 233: " ARMENIA [22] - 20 km SSE Goris, Shurnukh , 39°21'38''N, 46°24'33''E, 1720 m ,

forest, sifted, 5.VII.2016, V. Assing" (cAss); 233, 1♀: same data, but leg. Schülke ( MNB, cVog); 833, 2♀♀: " ARMENIA [23] - WSW Kapan , Meghri Pass , 39°07'00''N, 46°09'38''E, 2520 m, litter & roots, 6.VII.2016, V. Assing" (cAss, MNB); 733, 3♀♀: " ARMENIA [28] - WSW Kapan , S Meghri Pass, 39°06'10''N, 46°10'47''E, 2310 m, oak litter, 6.VII.2016, V. Assing" (cAss, MNB); 1♀: " ARMENIA [28a] - WSW Kapan , S Meghri Pass, 39°06'10''N, 46°10'47''E, 2310 m, Formica nest, 6.VII.2016, V. Assing" (cAss); 1♀: " ARMENIA [32] - WSW Kapan, S Meghri Pass, 39°05'20''N, 46°10'35''E, 2170 m, forest margin, 8.VII.2016, V. Assing " (cAss); 13: same data, but leg. Schülke ( MNB); 13: " ARMENIA [AR16-33] WSW Kapan, S Meghri Pass, 39°05'56''N, 46°09'47''E, 2090 m, stream valley, litter near stream sifted, 8.VII.2016, leg. M. Schülke " ( MNB); 13: " ARMENIA [40] - 25 km SW Kapan, 39°03'04''N, 46°15'16''E, 1890 m, stream valley, sifted, 10.VII.2016, V. Assing " (cAss) .

E t y m o l o g y: The specific epithet (adjective) alludes to the currently known distribution, which is confined to several localities in Armenia.

D e s c r i p t i o n: Body length 4.2-5.3 mm; length of forebody 1.8-2.2 mm. Coloration: body black, with the elytra usually slightly paler, dark-brown to blackish-brown; legs with brown femora, reddish to pale-brown tibiae, and pale-reddish tarsi; antennae blackish; maxillary palpi blackish with pale-yellowish palpomere IV.

Head ( Fig. 108 ) weakly transverse or as long as broad; shape, punctation, and microsculpture subject to sexual dimorphism; microsculpture composed of isodiametric meshes. Eyes on average approximately as long as distance from posterior margin of eye to posterior constriction of head. Antenna ( Fig. 109 ) slender, approximately 1.5 mm long; antennomeres II and III of subequal length and very slender, IV weakly oblong, V indistinctly oblong or as long as broad, VI-X of slightly increasing width and increasingly transverse, X less than 1.5 times as broad as long, and XI noticeably longer than the combined length of IX and X.

Pronotum ( Figs 108, 110 ) 1.15-1.20 times as broad as long and 1.25-1.30 times as broad as head, with weak sexual dimorphism; punctation moderately fine and moderately dense, interstices on average approximately as broad as punctures; microsculpture composed of isodiametric meshes; pubescence directed posteriad along midline and predominantly diagonally postero-laterad in lateral portions (type II).

Elytra ( Fig. 1 ) 0.91-0.96 times as long as pronotum; punctation dense and fine; interstices with pronounced isodiametric microreticulation. Hind wings fully developed.

Abdomen narrower than elytra; tergites III-V with, tergite VI without anterior transverse impressions; punctation moderately dense and moderately fine on anterior tergites, gradually becoming sparser and finer towards posterior tergites; microsculpture distinct and predominantly composed of transverse meshes, on tergite VIII and in posterior portion of tergite VII of isodiametric meshes ( Fig. 117 ); posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe; tergite VIII subject to pronounced sexual dimorphism.

3: head flattened or even shallowly impressed dorsally, with rather coarse punctation and shallow microsculpture, glossy; pronotum usually with shallow and extensive impression in postero-median portion; tergite VIII with dense and coarse granules, posteriorly somewhat produced, this projection obtusely angled in the middle and laterally delimited by carinae ( Figs 111 , 117 ); sternite VIII ( Fig. 112 ) longer than tergite VIII and with strongly convex posterior margin; median lobe of aedeagus ( Figs 113-114 ) approximately 0.55 mm long; ventral process with very slender and acute apex in lateral view.

♀: head with weakly convex dorsal surface (cross-section), punctation usually finer and microreticulation more pronounced than in male; pronotum without impression; tergite VIII ( Fig. 115 ) without granules, posteriorly convexly produced in the middle; sternite VIII ( Fig. 116 ) strongly transverse, only indistinctly longer than tergite VIII, posterior margin with pronounced median excision ( Fig. 118 ); spermatheca ( Figs 119-121 ) with very slender distal portion and long, weakly sclerotized, coiled, and proximally twisted proximal portion.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Ascanbeinferredfrom the similar sexual dimorphism and modifications of the head, the pronotum, tergite VIII, and sternite VIII, L. armeniaca is undoubtedly closely allied to the widespread L. granigera (KIESENWETTER, 1850) . It differs from this species by distinctly darker coloration ( L. granigera : pronotum, abdomen, basal antennomeres, and maxillary palpomeres I-III predominantly brown to darkbrown; legs uniformly yellowish to pale-brown), more pronounced microreticulation of the head, by the morphology of the aedeagus ( L. granigera : ventral process much broader in ventral view), and by the shape of the spermatheca ( L. granigera : distal portion less slender; proximal portion not twisted, straight, stouter, and more strongly sclerotized. From the common, widespread, and similar L. longiuscula (GRAVENHORST, 1802) , the new species is distinguished by darker elytra ( L. longiuscula : usually with a yellowish band extending diagonally from the humeral angle to the postero-sutural portion), by the flattened or impressed male head and pronotum, the absence of a median elevation on the male tergite III, the presence of pronounced postero-lateral carinae on the male tergite VIII (weakly pronounced at most in L. longiuscula ), the posteriorly more strongly produced female tergite VIII, the pronounced median excision of the posterior margin of the female sternite VIII, a distinctly larger and differently shaped median lobe of the aedeagus, and a spermatheca with a much more slender distal and a much longer and differently shaped proximal portion. For illustrations of the primary sexual characters of L. granigera and L. longiuscula see figures 58V, L, S and 61V, L, S, respectively, in STRAND & VIK (1964).

D i s t r i b u t i o n a n d n a t u r a l h i s t o r y: Thespecimenswerecollected in several localities in Central and South Armenia. They were sifted from litter, debris, and roots near streams, in shrub habitats, and deciduous forests (Quercus, Carpinus, Salix). One specimen was collected from a nest of wood ants. The altitudes range from 1720 to 2340 m.

Figures

Figs 108-116: Liogluta armeniaca: (108) forebody; (109) antenna; (110) postero-median portion of pronotum; (111) male tergite VIII; (112) male sternite VIII; (113-114) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view; (115) female tergite VIII; (116) female sternite VIII. Scale bars: 108: 1.0 mm; 109: 0.5 mm; 110-116: 0.2 mm.

Figs 117-121: Liogluta armeniaca: (117) median portions of male tergites VII-VIII; (118) posteromedian portion of female sternite VIII; (119-121) spermatheca. Scale bars: 117, 119-121: 0.2 mm; 118: 0.1 mm.

Figs 1-10: Atheta brevapicalis (1-6) and A. pechlaneri from Armenia (7-10): (1) forebody; (2) antenna; (3, 7) male tergite VIII; (4, 8) male sternite VIII; (5-6, 9-10) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view. Scale bars: 1-2: 0.5 mm; 3-4, 7-8: 0.2 mm; 5-6, 9-10: 0.1 mm.