Pronomaea sicula, Assing, 2007

Assing, Volker, 2007, A revision of the species of Pronomaea E of the Western Palaearctic region, including Middle Asia (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae: Pronomaeini), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 57 (2), pp. 367-396 : 381-383

Pronomaea sicula sp. n. ( Figs 29-31 , Map 1 )

Type material:

Holotype ♂: " Sicilia 1906, Ficuzza, O. Leonhard / Pronomaea rostrata / coll. DEI Müncheberg / Holotypus ♂ Pronomaea siculasicula sp. n. det. V. Assing 2007 " ( DEI) . Paratypes: 1 ♂: same data as holotype (cAss) ; 1 ♂: " F. Tellaroi (SR), 800 m, d. foce, 7.8.90, Sabella" (cZan) ; 1 ♀: " ♀ / Sicilien - Ficuzza , 18.4.42 / rostrata / ex coll. Scheerpeltz " ( NHMW) ; 1 ♀: " Ciccia [= Monte Ciccia , 38°15'N, 15°32'E], 25.VIII.32, F. Vitale / rostrata Er. det. Bernhauer " ( FMNH) .

Description:

External characters as in P. picea ; distinguished only by the morphology of the aedeagus.

♂: median lobe of aedeagus approximately 0.42 mm long; general morphology similar to that of P. picea , but ventral process more slender in ventral view, in lateral view more strongly bent, apex of ventral process more slender, and projection at base of of ventral process much less prominent ( Figs 29-31 ).

♀: spermatheca similar to those of P. piceapicea and P. corsicana .

Etymology: The name (Latin, adjective) is derived from the name of the island where the species is endemic.

Comparative notes:

From other Pronomaea species , P. siculasicula is reliably distinguished only by the distinctive shape of the median lobe of the aedeagus. The latter is most similar to that of P. sardoa ; for distinguishing characters see the comparative notes in the following section.

Distribution and bionomics:

Pronomaea sicula is apparently endemic to Sicily, where it is evidently the only representative of the genus ( Map 1 ). The record of P. rostrata by SCHEERPELTZ (1965) refers to this species. Two paratypes were collected in August, one of them in a stream valley at an altitude of 800 m, another one apparently on a river bank. Additional bionomic data are not available.

Figures

Map 1: Distributions of Pronomaea rostrata ERICHSON (filled circles: examined records; open circles: selected plausible literature records by FAGEL (1969) and FAUVEL (1902)), P. sardoasardoa sp. n. (open squares), and P. sicula sp. n. (filled squares).

Figs 26-34: Pronomaea wunderlei sp. n. (26-28), P. sicula sp. n. (29-31), and P. sardoa sp. n. (32-34): median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view (26-27, 29-30, 32-33) of holotypes (26, 29, 32) and paratypes (27, 30, 33); apical part of median lobe of aedeagus in ventral view (28, 31, 34). Scale bars: 0.1 mm.