Domene (Domene) perezi, Assing, 2012

Assing, V., 2012, A new endogean species of Domene FAUVEL from a cave in Jaén, southern Spain (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 44 (2), pp. 993-999 : 994-997

Domene (Domene) perezi nov.sp. ( Figs 1-14 , Map 1 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype: " Spain - Jaén, SW Hornos, Sima de la Fractura 2, 38°11'N, 2°47'W, 965 m, limestone cave, traps, 10.VIII.2012, leg. G.E.V. / Holotypus Domene perezi sp.n. det. V. Assing 2012 (cAss). Paratypes: 2, 2 sex? [damaged, abdominal apex missing]: same data as holotype (cAss, cFel).

E t y m o l o g y: The species is gratefully dedicated to Toni Pérez, a member of G.E.V., who sorted the trap-collected cave material and who made the type specimens available to me.

D e s c r i p t i o n: Body length: 8.5-9.0 mm; length of forebody: 4.4-4.5 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 1 . Coloration: whole body dark-reddish.

Head ( Fig. 2 ) of elliptic shape, approximately 1.2 times as long as broad; posterior angles completely obsolete, broadly rounded; neck 1/3 as wide as head; dorsal surface with very dense and moderately coarse punctation; interstices without microsculpture and reduced to narrow ridges, even in median dorsal portion much narrower than diameter of punctures ( Fig. 4 ). Eyes almost flat, barely visible from above, composed of approximately 20 ommatidia, and with pigmentation. Antennae ( Fig. 3 ) approximately 2.8 mm long, slen- der; all antennomeres much longer than broad. Maxillary palpus very slender; preapical joint more than 3 times as long as broad.

Pronotum ( Fig. 2 ) 1.30-1.35 times as long as broad, nearly as broad as head, widest anteriorly and distinctly tapering posteriad; punctation in anterior and lateral portions dense, similar to that of head, somewhat sparser and less coarse in posterior median portion ( Fig. 5 ); narrow rudiment of impunctate midline present only in posterior half; interstices without microsculpture and glossy.

Elytra ( Fig. 2 ) 0.75-0.80 times as long as pronotum and slender, only slightly broader than elytra; humeral angles practically obsolete; near apex of scutellum with rather weak elvations on either side of suture; punctation relatively coarse and dense, but weakly defined and somewhat irregular ( Fig. 9 ); in lateral portion (lateral view!) with somewhat indistinct, anteriorly and posteriorly reduced additional line above margins. Hind wings completely reduced. Legs long and slender; metatibia approximately 1.6 mm, metatarsus approximately 1.2 mm long.

Abdomen approximately 1.05 times as broad as elytra, widest at segment VI; tergites IV- VI with shallow anterior impressions, these impressions with moderately pronounced microreticulation; punctation fine and dense; interstices with fine microsculpture; posterior margin of tergite VII without palisade fringe; posterior margin of tergite VIII strongly convex or obtusely pointed in the middle.

: sternite VII with shallow median impression of triangular shape posteriorly, this impression with cluster of modified, short and stout black setae ( Figs 10-11 ); sternite VIII transverse, posteriorly with distinct impression, on either side of the middle of this impression with a cluster of numerous modified, short and stout black setae, posterior incision relatively small and V-shaped ( Fig. 12 ); sternite IX bifid apically ( Fig. 13 ); aedeagus approximately 1.3 mm long, with deeply and broadly excised ventral process and with sclerotised apical structure of distinctive shape ( Figs 6-8 ).

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Based on the morphology of the aedeagus (broad and apically deeply excised ventral process), D. perezi belongs to the subgenus Domene . Five Domene species , all of them attributed to nominate subgenus, were previously known from southern Spain. The new species is distinguished from all of them by the shape of the aedeagus, particularly of the apical sclerotised structure. In addition, it is separated from them as follows:

from D. cavicola COIFFAIT 1954 (Sierra de Cazorla) by much larger body size ( D. cavicola : 5.5 mm), darker coloration, larger eyes with pigmentation, longer and more slender legs, the shape and chaetotaxy of the male sternite VIII ( D. cavicola : smaller posterior excision; clusters of setae of different shape and in different position), and by the apically bifid male sternite IX;

from D. fuelscheri BORDONI 1977 (Sierra de Ronda, Sierra de Ubrique) by larger body size ( D. fuelscheri : 6-7 mm), the more oblong, less densely and coarsely punctate, and less matt head, the slightly larger eyes, the distinctly longer and more slender antennae with more slender antennomeres, the somewhat more slender, less densely and less coarsely punctate pronotum, the less coarse punctation of the elytra, the much more slender legs (particularly meso- and metatarsi), as well as by the shape and chaetotaxy of the male sternite VIII ( D. fuelscheri : posterior excision narrower; clusters of modified setae in different position);

from D. gevia HERNANDO & BAENA 2006 (Sierra de las Nieves) by slightly larger size ( D. gevia : approximately 8 mm), the much more slender head, the more slender and posteriorly more distinctly tapering pronotum, longer elytra, the presence of modified setae on the male sternite VII, and by the shape and position of the clusters of modified setae on the male sternite VIII;

from D. anichtchenkoi FELDMANN 2005 (Sierra Nevada) by larger body size ( D. anichtchenkoi : approximately 7 mm), larger eyes with more ommatidia, more slender antennomeres, the posteriorly more distinctly tapering, less glossy, and more coarsely punctate pronotum, the longer and more slender elytra, the presence of modified setae on the male sternite VII (absent in D. anichtchenkoi ), by the shape and chaetotaxy of the male sternite VIII ( D. anichtchenkoi : less transverse and with less pronounced clusters of modified setae in different position), and by the the posteriorly distinctly bifid male sternite IX ( D. anichtchenkoi : posterior margin of this sternite very weakly concave);

from the similarly large D. lencinai VIVES 2010 (Albacete: Cueva del Farallón) by the more oblong head, longer legs, more slender antennae, and probably also by the presence of modified setae on the male sternite VII (modifications not mentioned in the original description).

For illustrations of the compared species see BORDONI (1977), COIFFAIT (1954), FELDMANN & HERNANDO (2005), HERNANDO & BAENA (2006), and VIVES (2010). Note that VIVES (2010) does not figure the male secondary sexual characters and that he provides only a very rough sketch of the aedeagus of D. lencinai .

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: Thetypelocality,Simadela Fractura 2, is a limestone cave situated to the southwest of Hornos (Andalucía: Jaén), between the type localities of D. cavicola and D. lencinai ( Map 1 ), at an altitude of 965 m. The specimens were collected with traps placed at the bottom of the cave at a depth of approximately 25 m ( Fig. 14 ) and baited with chloral hydrate and beer. They were exposed in the cave for one month. The circumstances of collection, the elongated body appendages, as well as the adaptive reductions of eye size, pigmentation, wings, and of the palisade fringe at the posterior margin of the abdominal tergite VIII suggest that D. perezi is a truly endogean species.

Figures

Map 1: Distribution of the Domene species known from southern Spain: D. fuelscheri (triangles), D. gevia (filled square), D. anichtchenkoi (open diamond), D. cavicola (filled diamond), D. perezi (open square), and D. lencinai (circle).

Figs 1-8: Domene perezi nov.sp.: (1) habitus; (2) forebody; (3) antenna; (4) median dorsal portion of head; (5) median dorsal portion of pronotum; (6-7) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view; (8) apical portion of aedeagus in ventral view. Scale bars: 1-3: 1.0 mm; 6-7: 0.5 mm; 4-5, 8: 0.2 mm.

Figs 9-13: Domene perezi nov.sp.: (9) sutural portion of elytra; (10) male sternite VII; (11) posteromedian portion of male sternite VII; (12) male sternite VIII; (13) male sternite IX. Scale bars: 9-10, 12-13: 0.5 mm; 11: 0.2 mm.

Fig. 14: Cross-section of topology of Sima de la Fractura 2. The traps were placed in the bottom chamber (P-10; lower left). Source: G.E.V.