Lusitanopsis andujari, Assing, 2007

Assing, Volker, 2007, Three new species of endogean Osoriini from southern Spain (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Osoriinae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 57 (2), pp. 347-354 : 349-351

Lusitanopsis andujari sp. n. ( Figs 1-4 , Map 1 )

Type material:

Holotype ♂: E - Alicante [11], Sierra d’Aitana, ca. 8 km N Sella, 1390 m, 38°39 '09N, 00°16 '02W, 28.III.2007, C. Andújar / Holotypus ♂ Lusitanopsis andujari sp. n. det. V. Assing 2007 (cAss) . Paratypes: 3 ♂ ♂, 6 ♀ ♀: same data as holotype (cAnd, cAss) .

Description:

2.3-2.6 mm. Coloration uniformly reddish.

Head with extremely fine puncturation; microreticulation rather distinct in anterior and lateral areas, and very shallow to almost obsolete in median dorsal area ( Fig. 1 ). Eyes completely reduced. Antenna ( Fig. 2 ) with antennomere I short, slender, and moderately flattened; II small, narrower than I; III approximately as long as wide, IV distinctly transverse; IV-VI increasingly transverse and of gradually increasing width; VII distinctly larger than VI; VII-XI forming a moderately distinct club.

Pronotum approximately 1.05 times as wide as head and 1.1 times as wide as long, widest near anterior angles; lateral margins converging in straight or weakly convex line posteriad in dorsal view, anterior margin 1.35-1.40 times as wide as posterior margin ( Fig. 1 ); lateral margins without carinae; disc with two median rows of 6-8 punctures; area between these rows impunctate, with or without shallow traces of microsculpture; lateral areas with distinct microreticulation.

Elytra as wide as or slightly narrower than pronotum, at suture 0.63-0.70 times as long as pronotum; shape (of both elytra combined) transversely rectangular; anterior 1/4 of lateral margins distinctly carinate, this carina distinctly dilated at humeral angles and clearly visible from above, humeral angles well-marked ( Fig. 1 ); surface with shallow, but distinct microreticulation and with extremely fine (barely noticeable) sparse puncturation. Hind wings completely reduced.

Abdomen 1.05-1.10 times as wide as elytra, widest at segment VII; microsculpture of segments III-VII more pronounced than that of forebody, composed of relatively large and more or less isodiametric meshes.

♂: aedeagus as in Figs 3-4 .

Etymology: The species is dedicated to my friend Carmelo Andújar, a most enthusiastic collector of endogean beetles, to whom I am grateful for the generous gift of most of the type specimens.

Comparative notes:

The new species is separated from all its congeners especially by the distinctive shape of the aedeagus (lateral view). From Typhlosorius torressalai , the only other species of Osoriini known from Alicante, it is distinguished by the presence of pronounced lateral carinae in the anterior half of the elytra and by the different shape of the aedeagus. For illustrations of Typhlosorius torressalai see COIFFAIT (1958). For illustrations of the aedeagi of other endogean Osoriini from the Iberian peninsula see COIFFAIT (1958, 1961, 1965, 1969) and OUTERELO (1990).

Distribution and bionomics:

The type locality is not far from the peak of the Sierra d’Aitana near Alicante ( Map 1 ), at an altitude of almost 1400 m. The types were collected by washing soil from a rocky pasture and from a north slope in the shade of big rocks.

Figures

Map 1: Distributions of Lusitanopsis andujariandujari sp. n. (filled circle), L. seguricasegurica sp. n. (open circle), and L. meybohmi sp. n. (square) in southern Spain.

Figs 1-10: Lusitanopsis andujariandujari sp. n. (1-4), L. seguricasegurica sp. n. (5-7), and L. meybohmimeybohmi sp. n. (8-10): forebody (1, 5, 8); antenna (2, 6, 9); aedeagus in lateral view (3-4, 7, 10). Scale bars: 1-2, 5-6, 8-9: 0.2 mm; 3-4, 7, 10: 0.1 mm.