Edaphus socotranus, Assing, 2012

Assing, V., 2012, On the Staphylinidae of Socotra Island, Yemen (Insecta: Coleoptera), Linzer biologische Beiträge 44 (2), pp. 973-986 : 979-980

Edaphus socotranus nov.sp. ( Fig. 9 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype: " Yemen, Sokotra, Al Haghier Mts., Scant Mt. env., 12°35'N, 54°02'E, 1450 m, sifted, 12.-13.XI.2010, leg. Hlaváč / Holotypus Edaphus socotranus sp. n. det. V. Assing 2012" (NMNHP). Paratypes: same data as holotype (cAss).

E t y m o l o g y: The specific epithet is an adjective derived from Socotra, where this species is probably endemic.

D e s c r i p t i o n: Minute species; body length 1.1-1.2 mm; length of forebody 0.6 mm. Coloration: whole body dark-yellowish; legs, antennae, and mouthparts yellowish. Whole forebody without appreciable punctation, smooth and glossy.

Head transverse; frons deeply and sharply impressed, laterally and posteriorly sharply delimited; impression separated from lateral portions by distinct elevation. Eyes small and with large ommatidia, almost extending to posterior margin of head posteriorly. Antennae slender, almost reaching posterior margin of pronotum; antennomere X relatively long and weakly transverse.

Pronotum almost as long as broad and approximately 1.1 times as broad as head; lateral margins distinctly sinuate near posterior angles; posteriorly with five carinae and four distinct foveae.

Elytra short, approximately 0.7 times as long as pronotum; humeral angles with distinct and almost sharp elevation. Hind wings completely reduced.

Abdomen approximately as broad as combined width of elytra; tergites without distinct microsculpture and glossy; punctation very fine and sparse; tergite III without median keel; posterior margin of tergite VII without palisade fringe.

: sternite VIII with deep and U-shaped posterior excision; aedeagus 0.2 mm long and of distinctive shape ( Fig. 9 ); paramere subapically with setose projection.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: According to PUTHZ (pers. comm.), E. socotranus is distinguished from all similarly minute, impunctate, microphthalmous, and micropterous Afrotropical Edaphus species with a flat frons and with a humeral elevation, e.g., E. kabobomontis PUTHZ 1992 from Congo, by a longer antennomere X, the presence of four less distinctly separated basal foveae on the pronotum, the absence of a median keel on the abdominal tergite III, and particularly by the morphology of the aedeagus. It is readily separated from the syntopic E. hlavaci particularly by much smaller size, longer antennae, the differently shaped pronotum, the absence of distinct microsculpture on the abdomen, and by the completely different morphology of the aedeagus.

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 type locality, the hypothesised distribution, and the circumstances of collection are identical to those of Octavius curtissimus and Edaphus hlavaci (see above).

Figures

Figs 1-9: Octavius curtissimus nov.sp. (1-4), Edaphus hlavaci nov.sp. (5-8), and E. socotranus nov.sp. (9): (1, 5) habitus; (2) posterior median portion of head and median portion of pronotum; (3) elytra; (4, 8, 9) aedeagus in ventral view; (6) posterior portion of pronotum; (7) aedeagus in lateral view. Scale bars: 1.5: 1.0 mm; 2-4, 6-9: 0.1 mm.