Quedius (Raphirus) nigrosuturalis, Assing, 2016

Assing, Volker, 2016, On some species of the Quedius obliqueseriatus group, with notes on Q. nivicola (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Staphylininae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 48 (2), pp. 1137-1148 : 1144-1147

Quedius (Raphirus) nigrosuturalis nov.sp. ( Figs 1-9 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype 6: "N 42°23'48 E 43°01'59 (14), GEORGIA: Ratscha , Nakerala 4 km N, 1150 m, Brachat & Meybohm, 18.V.2016 / Holotypus 6 Quedius nigrosuturalis sp. n. det. V. Assing 2016" (cAss) . Paratypes: 16, 1♀: same data as holotype (cAss) ; 1♀: "N 42°22'20 E 43°02'30 (21), GEORGIA: Ratscha , Nakerala Pass, 1320 m, Brachat & Meybohm, 22.V.2016 " (cAss) .

E t y m o l o g y: The specific epithet (adjective) alludes to the blackish elytral suture.

D e s c r i p t i o n: Measurements (in mm) and ratios (range): TL: 9.0-10.0; FL: 4.5- 5.1; HL: 1.09-1.32; HW: 1.35-1.62; PL: 1.55-1.79; PW: 1.76-2.02; EL: 0.70-0.81; HTiL: 1.44-1.67; HTaL: 1.07-1.18; ML: 1.55-1.58; HW/HL: 1.22-1.25; PW/HW: 1.24-1.31; PL/PW: 0.88-0.90; EL/PL: 0.43-0.47; HTiL/HTaL: 1.29-1.48. Female of noticeably larger size than male.

Coloration: head blackish; pronotum bicoloured, dark-brown with the anterior and posterior margins narrowly, and the lateral portions broadly reddish; elytra dark-reddish with the sutural and scutellar regions blackish-brown to blackish; abdomen blackishbrown to blackish, with the posterior margins of tergites III-VII narrowly, and the posterior margin of tergite VIII broadly reddish; legs reddish; antennae brown, with the basal 3-4 antennomeres reddish; maxillary palpi pale-reddish.

Head ( Figs 1-2 ) distinctly transverse (see ration HW/HL); punctation pattern (setiferous punctures only) of dorsal surface: one puncture at anterior angle of frons, one between antennal insertion and antero-dorsal margin of eye, one near middle of dorsal margin of eye, one near postero-dorsal margin of eye, and one puncture near posterior constriction of head on either side; dorsal surface with transverse microsculpture and interspersed micropunctation; infraorbital ridge pronounced, nearly reaching posterior constriction of head. Eyes approximately 2.5 times as long as postocular region in dorsal view. Antenna as in Fig. 3 .

Pronotum ( Fig. 1 ) distinctly transverse and much broader than head (see ratios PL/PW and PWE/HW); dorsal series composed of three punctures; setae inserting in dorsal punctures and in punctures at lateral and anterior margins black and moderately long, those inserting in sublateral punctures black and very long; microsculpture composed of diagonally transverse striae on disc and of oblong meshes near antero-lateral angles.

Elytra ( Fig. 1 ) less than half as long as, and distinctly narrower than pronotum; punctation dense and distinct. Hind wings completely reduced.

Abdomen with dense and rather coarse punctation; interstices with fine transverse microsculpture visible only at high magnification (100 x); posterior margin of tergite VII without palisade fringe.

6: protarsomeres I-IV strongly dilated ( Fig. 1 ); posterior excision of sternite VIII of broadly triangular shape; aedeagus ( Figs 4-9 ): median lobe with pronounced subapical tooth, apical portion of ventral process straight in lateral view and spear-shaped in ventral view; paramere apically not quite reaching apex of median lobe, with two slightly irregular lateral series of peg-setae.

♀: protarsomeres I-IV moderately dilated, distinctly less so than in male; posterior margin of sternite VIII convex; tergite X apically sharply convex.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Quedius nigrosuturalis is distinguished from other micropterous Raphirus species distributed in the Caucasus region by the shape of the aedeagus and additionally as follows (compared with actual specimens, except for Q. brachypterus and Q. nonseriatus ):

from Q. brachypterus , Q. lgockii , and Q. henrii (body blackish) by completely different coloration alone;

from Q. obliqueseriatus and Q. nonseriatus by the punctation pattern of the head ( Q. obliqueseriatus and Q. nonseriatus with an additional pair of punctures posteriorly), a more distinctly bicoloured pronotum, and by bicoloured elytra (uniformly reddish in Q. obliqueseriatus and Q. nonseriatus );

from Q. walteri by the punctation pattern of the head ( Q. walteri with an additional pair of punctures posteriorly), a convex posterior margin of the pronotum ( Q. walteri : posterior margin of pronotum very weakly convex, nearly truncate), denser punctation of the elytra, and by bicoloured elytra (uniformly reddish in Q. walteri );

from Q. humosus , with which it shares the punctation pattern of the head, by a more distinctly bicoloured pronotum and bicoloured elytra;

from Q. boluensis by the punctation pattern of the head ( Q. boluensis : puncture near postero-dorsal margin of eye more distant from eye and accompanied by 1-4 additional nonsetiferous punctures), by a more distinctly bicoloured pronotum, and by bicoloured elytra; from Q. smetanai , with which it shares bicoloured elytra, by the coloration of the pronotum ( Q. smetanai : pronotum completely black), the coloration of the elytra ( Q. smetanai : elytra reddish with an oblong infuscate spot on either side of, but not including suture, or nearly completely dark), and by slightly shorter elytra.

For illustrations of the aedeagi of the compared species see KORGE (1971), SMETANA (1995), and SOLODOVNIKOV (2004, 2005).

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: The species is currently known from two localities near the Nakerala pass in Ratcha province, Northwest Georgia. The specimens were collected in a beech forest and in a secondary forest with box trees, hazelnut, and rhododendron at altitudes of 1150 and 1320 m (MEYBOHM pers. comm.).

Figures

Figs 1-9: Quedius nigrosuturalis nov.sp.: (1) male forebody; (2) head; (3) antenna; (4-5) aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view; (6-7) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view; (8) paramere; (9) apical portion of paramere. Scale bars: 1-3: 1.0 mm; 4-8: 0.5 mm; 9: 0.2 mm.