Geostiba (Tropogastrosipalia) sarica, Assing, 2009

Assing, V., 2009, A revision of Geostiba of the Western Palaearctic region. XIX. New species from Turkey and Iran and additional records, with an updated key and a catalogue of the species of the Eastern Mediterranean, the Caucasus, and adjacent regions (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 41 (2), pp. 1191-1246 : 1205-1208

Geostiba (Tropogastrosipalia) sarica nov.sp. ( Figs 32-47 )

Holotype Ƌ: " Iran, Prov. Mazandaran [IR08-01], Sari County, Mohammadabad, Elburz Mts., N- Slope, NE Sangdeh, 1533 m, 36°04'06.6"N, 53°09'57.8"E [recte: 36°04.066'N, 53°09.578"E], Fagus forest, leaves debris, sifted, 29.V.2008, leg. A. Pütz / Holotypus Ƌ Geostiba sarica sp. n. det. V. Assing 2009" (cPüt). Paratypes: 5ƋƋ, 6♀♀♀: same data as holotype (cPüt, cAss); 1Ƌ, 2♀♀: " Iran, Prov. Mazandaran [IR08-03], Sari County , Mohammadabad, Elburz Mts., N-Slope, E Qolqol, 36°10'26.7"N, 53°16'29.2"E [recte: 36°10.267'N, 53°16.292'E], 916 m, leaves debris, sifted, 29.V.2008, leg. A. Pütz" (cPüt, cAss).

D e s c r i p t i o n: Body length 2.1-3.2 mm. Habitus as in Figs 32 , 40 . Coloration variable: body uniformly reddish to more or less distinctly bicoloured, with the head and the abdomen blackish to blackish-brown and the pronotum, elytra, and the abdominal apex paler reddish to brown; legs yellowish to yellowish-brown; antennae reddish to brown.

Head 1.0-1.1 times as long as wide ( Figs 33 , 41 ); punctation extremely fine, barely noticeable; surface with shallow, but distinct microreticulation. Eyes weakly convex and relatively small, approximately 1/3 the length of postocular region in dorsal view.

Pronotum with moderately pronounced sexual dimorphism ( Figs 33 , 41 ), weakly oblong (Ƌ) to weakly transverse (♀), and approximately 1.2 times as wide as head; punctation as fine as that of head; microreticulation clearly more distinct than that of head.

Elytra with moderately pronounced sexual dimorphism, very short, 0.45-0.55 times as long as pronotum; in small specimens approximately 1.2 times, in large specimens almost 1.4 times as wide as pronotum; punctation much more distinct than that of head and pronotum ( Figs 33 , 41 ).

Abdomen at least slightly wider than elytra; anterior tergites without sexual dimorphism; punctation moderately fine and moderately sparse on anterior tergites, very fine and very sparse on posterior tergites; posterior margin of tergite VII without palisade fringe; posterior margin of tergite VIII weakly convex in both sexes ( Fig. 44 ).

Ƌ (with fully developed secondary sexual characters): pronotum approximately as long as wide or weakly oblong, posterior margin in the middle distinctly pointed, posterior half of midline usually indistinctly keeled ( Figs 33 , 41 ); elytra with granulose punctation, at anterior half of suture with not very pronounced elevation composed of dense granula, surface without distinct impressions; tergite VII with short and apically acute median process at posterior margin ( Figs 34-35 , 42-43 ); posterior margin of sternite VIII broadly convex ( Fig. 45 ); aedeagus with cristal process of highly variable shape ( Figs 36-38 , 46 ).

♀: pronotum weakly transverse, approximately 1.05 times as wide as long, posterior margin weakly convex, in the middle truncate; punctation of elytra not granulose; spermatheca as in Figs 39 , 47.

E t y m o l o g y: The specific epithet (adjective) is derived from the name of the county where the species was collected.

I n t r a s p e c i f i c v a r i a t i o n: Coloration, size, and proportions are subject to pronounced variation; the body tends to be more slender in smaller than in larger specimens. Also, as is usual with species of the subgenus Tropogastrosipalia , the male secondary sexual characters are almost or completely obsolete in small males. Remarkably, the cristal process of the aedeagus is highly variable, too, even in material from the same locality ( Figs 36-38 ). The male from the environs of Qolqol differs from the males from the type locality not only by the much larger and broader cristal process ( Fig. 46 ), but also by the slightly denser and more distinctly granulose punctation of the elytra ( Fig. 41 ) and by the dorso-ventrally slightly more compressed process of the abdominal tergite VII ( Fig. 42 ). In view of the variability observed in the material from the type locality, these differences are attributed to intra- rather than interspecific variation.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Previously, only two species of the subgenus Tropogastrosipalia were known from Iran, G. sengleti PACE 1983 (Mazandaran province, 37°20'N, 55°44'E] and G. huberi PACE 1983 (between Bonjurd and Shapasand). The latter is a species of doubtful status, since its description is based on a single female; Tropogastrosipalia species can be distinguished only based on the male sexual characters. The new species differs from G. sengleti by the posteriorly more distinctly pointed male pronotum, the absence of distinct sutural carinae and the presence of distinctly granulose punctation on the male elytra, the shape of the cristal process of the aedeagus, and the completely different shape of the spermatheca. For figures of G. sengleti see PACE (1983a) and ASSING (2005a), for an illustration of the spermatheca of G. huberi see PACE (1983b).

D i s t r i b u t i o n a n d b i o n o m i c s: Geostiba sarica is known from two localities in Sari county, Mazandaran province, northern Iran. The type specimens were sifted from leaf litter, at least partly in a beech forest, at altitudes of approximately 920 and 1530 m.

Figures

Figs 32-39: Geostiba sarica nov.sp. from the environs of Sangdeh (type locality): (32) male habitus; (33) male forebody; (34) male abominal segments VI-VIII in lateral view; (35) male abominal segments VII-VIII in dorsal view; (36-38) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view; (39) spermatheca. Scale bars: 32: 1.0 mm; 33-35: 0.5 mm; 36-39: 0.1 mm.

Figs 40-47: Geostiba sarica nov.sp. from the environs of Qolqol: (40) male habitus; (41) male forebody; (42) male abdominal segments V-VII in lateral view; (43) male abdominal segments VI- VII in dorsal view; (44) male tergite VIII; (45) male sternite VIII; (46) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view; (47) spermatheca. Scale bars: 40: 1.0 mm; 41-42: 0.5 mm; 43-45: 0.2 mm; 46-47: 0.1 mm.