Stenichnus (Stenichnus) brachati MEYBOHM, 2019

Assing, Volker, Brachat, Volker & Meybohm, Heinrich, 2019, Monograph of the Staphylinidae of Crete (Greece). Part II. Descriptions of new species (Insecta: Coleoptera), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 69 (2), pp. 239-289 : 274-275

Stenichnus (Stenichnus) brachati MEYBOHM spec. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:0D694A13-AB82-4398-AC2A-2E4D39B515FB

( Figs 131–133 )

Type material: Holotype ♂: “26.3.[19]76 Kreta Anogia Ida-Geb. Dr Fülscher Meybohm / Stenichnus brachati m. Meybohm 2018 det. / Holotypus ” (cMey) . Paratypes (all in cMey): Lassithi: 1 ♂, 1 ♀: “ N35°05' E25°52' GR Ostkreta Thripti 900 m Meybohm 8.3.2001 ”; 1 ♀: “ N35°05'09 E25°52'10 GR Ostkreta (3) Thripti 1040 m 10.3.2018 l. Brachat & Meybohm”; 1 ♂: “GR – Crete [9], NW Dikti Oros, Limnakaro, 35°09'07"N, 25°28'50"E, 1090 m, under stones, 26.III.2012, V. Assing ”; 1 ♂: same data, but “ 27.III.2012 ”; 1 ♂, 2 ♀♀: same data, but “sifted, 27.III.2012 ”; 4 ♂♂, 1 ♀: same data, but “sifted, 30.III.2012 ”; 3 ♂♂, 5 ♀♀: “GR – Crete [12a], NW Dikti Oros, Limnakaro, 35°08'16"N, 25°28'52"E, 1140 m, under stones, 28.III.2012, V. Assing ”; 2 ♂♂: “GR – Crete [9], NW Dikti Oros, 1440 m, 35°07'26"N, 25°29'23"E snowfield margin sifted, 9.IV.2014, V. Assing ”; 5 ♀♀: “ N35°05' E25°32' GR Kreta Dikti-Geb. Selakano 850 m Meybohm 9.3.2001 ”; 1 ♀: “ N35°11' E25°31' GR Kreta Lassithi Selia Afhin 1000 m Meybohm 10.3.2001 ”; 2 ♀♀: “GR – Crete [11], W Kritsa, 35°09'41"N, 25°38'21"E, 450 m, soil washing, 27.XII.2017, V. Assing ”; 2 ♀♀: “ N35°07'02 E25°37'55 GR Lassithi (8) Kroustas sw 800 m 12.3.2018 l. Brachat & Meybohm”; 1 ♀: “GR – Crete [26], SW Malia, Gonies env., 35°14'09"N, 25°26'37"E, 290 m, soil washing, 1.I.2018, V. Assing ”; 1♀: “ N35°14'09 E25°26'38 GR Lassithi (35) Gonies 270 m 24.3.2018 l. Brachat & Meybohm”; 1 ♂: “GR – Crete [20], WSW Ag. Nikolaos, Katharo, 35°08'14"N, 25°34'25"E, 1140 m, sifted, 29.XII.2018, V. Assing ”; 2 ♂♂: “GR – Crete [21], WSW Ag. Nikolaos, Katharo, 35°08'13"N, 25°34'16"E, 1110 m, under stones, 29.XII.2018, V. Assing ”; 2♂♂, 1 ♀: “GR – Crete [29], S Kritsa, SW Kroustas, 35°07'03"N, 25°38'10"E, 780 m, litter sifted, 31.XII.2018, V. Assing ”; 2 ♂♂: “ N35°10'40 E26°03'00, GR Ostkreta 15.3.2019, Kimouriotis 110 m, Brachat & Meybohm (3)”; 2 ♀♀: “ N35°07'02 E25°37'55, GR Kreta Lassithi 800 m, Kroustas sw 16.3.2019, Brachat & Meybohm (5)”. Rethimno: 2 ♀♀: “30.3.[19]73 Kreta Ida-Geb. b. Anogia DrFülscher Meybohm”; 2 ♀♀: ‚‘14.3. [19]76 Kreta Anogia Ida Geb. DrFülscher Meybohm "; 8 ♂♂, 7 ♀♀: “26.3.[19]76 Kreta Anogia Ida Geb. DrFülscher Meybohm”; 2 ♂♂, 7 ♀♀: “ 27.3.1986 Kreta Ida Geb. Umg. Anogia leg. H. Meybohm ”; 1 ♂, 3 ♀♀: “GR-Kreta Bez. Rethimnon Anogia/Ideon Antron 25.– 27.5.1980 leg. Brachat ”; 3 ♂♂: “GR – Crete [28a], S Anogia, Psiloritis, 35°14'59"N, 24°53'05"E 1180 m, sifted, 3.IV.2012, V. Assing ”; 2 ♂♂, 5 ♀♀: “ N35°15'22 E24°53'04, GR Kreta Ida Geb. 1200 m, Anogia–Psiloritis 17.3.2019, Brachat & Meybohm (7)”. Chania: 1 ♀: “23.3.[19]73 West-Kreta Pass Petres– Impros DrFülscher Meybohm”; 1 ♂: “GR-Kreta Bez. Chania Chora Sfakion–Impros 31.3.1983 leg Brachat/ Dörnfeld”; 1 ♂: “ 16.3.19 [76] West-Kreta OmalosHochfläche DrFülscher Meybohm”; 1 ♂: “24.3.[19]86 WestKreta Omalos Hochfläche leg. H. Meybohm ”; 1 ♀: “ N35°19'E23°54' GR Westkreta Omalos 1150–1480 m Meybohm 13.3.2001 ”; 1 ♂, 1 ♀: “GR W-Kreta Umgeb. Omalos ca. 1100 m Streuges. 10.[19]91 Wunderle”; 1 ♀: “ N35°19'10 E23°54'46 GR Westkreta (16) Omalos 1110 m 16.3.2018 l. Brachat & Meybohm”; 1 ♀: same data, but 18.3.2018; 1 ♂: “GR Westkreta (16) N35°19'10 E23°54'46 Omalos 1110 m; 16.3.2018 leg. Meybohm & Brachat”; 3 ♂♂, 6 ♀♀: “ N35°21'42 E24°11'46, GR Westkreta 130 m, Vrisses S 19.3.2019, Brachat & Meybohm (10)”; 1 ♀: “ N35°14'36 E24°09'50, GR Kreta 780 m, Impros S 22.3.2019, Brachat & Meybohm (16)”; 1 ♀: “ N35°19'18 E23°54'50, GR Kreta 1060 m, Omalos E 23.3.2019, Brachat & Meybohm (18)” .

Etymology: This species is dedicated to my friend Volker Brachat, specialist of Pselaphinae , a regular companion on at least one field trip per year since 2000.

Description: Body length 1.40–1.50 mm. Body bright reddish-brown. Head broadest across the large and moderately projecting eyes; width of head including eyes 0.26–0.30 mm; postocular region in dorsal view distinctly tapering behind eyes, slightly shorter than diameter of eyes; supra-antennal tubercles very weakly pronounced; punctures on vertex and frons distinct; vertex and frons confluent and distinctly convex; pubescence sexually dimorphic: setae on vertex and frons about 0.02 mm long, weakly curved, directed forward (♂) or about 0.04 mm long, distinctly curved, and directed mediad (♀). Antenna slender, 0.76–0.89 mm long, antennomeres II broader than III, III–X increasing in width, II–V of subequal length, twice as long as broad, VI 1.5 times as long as broad, VII weakly oblong, VIII as long as broad, three-segmented club weakly separated, IX–X weakly transverse, XI slightly shorter than the combined length of IX and X.

Pronotum of sub-trapezoid shape in dorsal view, 0.37– 0.42 mm long and 0.34–0.37 mm broad, on average 1.07 times as long as broad, broadest at anterior third; lateral margins strongly rounded in anterior third and straight in posterior half; posterior angles broadly rounded; punctures very fine; pubescence long and suberect, setae approximately 0.1 mm long, as long as setae on elytra, directed posteriad except at anterior and posterior margins. Pronotum without transverse impression in front of posterior margin, basally with two small foveae separated from each other by the same distance as from posterior margin, laterally with one or few foveae of variable size.

Elytra broadly oval, dorsally weakly flattened, 0.88– 0.97 mm long and 0.61–0.65 mm broad, on average 1.46 times as long as broad, broadest slightly behind anterior third; humeral angle and humeral fold absent; at base of each elytron with a large deep inner and a small outer impression separated by a weak, longitudinal ridge; pubescence long and suberect, directed posteriad; punctation distinct and moderately fine; elytral apices truncate. Legs relatively long and slender, with dilated femora, profemora with sexual dimorphism and more dilated than mesofemora, the latter more dilated than metafemora.

♂: profemur distally broadly dilated, with a more or less distinct edge externally, forming an angle of approximately 135°; sternite III with broad and laterally slightly concave median process anteriorly, this process posteriorly with broad and shallow impression nearly reaching posterior margin of sternite, margins of this impression elevated, sternites IV and V medially with a shallow impression, that of sternite IV slightly more extensive than that of sternite V and with a small cluster of setae anteriorly ( Fig. 131 ); aedeagus as in Fig. 132 ; sclerotized dorsal portion rather long and broad.

♀: sternites IV and V unmodified; spermatheca as in Fig. 133 .

Intraspecific variation: The above description strictly applies only to material from Psiloritis. Specimens from Oros Thripti and Oros Dikti are distinguished from those from Psiloritis by shorter antennae with more distinctly transverse antennomeres IX and X and by sometimes blackish-brown elytra. In specimens from West Crete (Lefka Ori), the pubescence of the male vertex is longer, sparse, and directed anteriad and that of the female vertex is very long, very sparse, and directed mediad. Since these differences are not pronounced, they are interpreted as intraspecific variation.

Comparative notes: Stenichnus brachati is similar to S. chius MEYBOHM, 2016 (Chios) , S. lesbius MEYBOHM, 2016 (Lesbos) , and an undescribed species from Samos, but easily distinguished by broader elytra, a unicoloured reddish-brown body, and the sexual characters. In the compared species, the male sternite IV has a sickleshaped impression ( S. lesbius ) or a minute tomentose patch ( S. chius ). In the undescribed species from Samos, the male sternite V is extensively impressed.

Distribution and natural history: This species is endemic to the mountainous regions of Crete from the Lefka Ori in the west to Oros Thripti in the east. The altitudes range from 780 to 1830 m, with two records from lower elevations (130 and 450 m).

Figures

Figs 127–142: Cephennium chanianum (127–129), Euconnus zakrius (130), Stenichnus brachati (131–133), S. orientalis (134–136), S. aegialioides (137–138), S. aegialius (139–140), and S. godarti (141–142): habitus (127, 134); aedeagus in lateral, ventral, and dorsal view (128–130, 132, 136–137, 139, 141); male abdomen in ventral view (131, 135); spermatheca (133, 138, 140, 142). Scale bars: 127, 134: 0.5 mm; 131, 135: 0.2 mm; 128–130, 132–133, 136–142: 0.1 mm.