Anaulacaspis persica ( FAGEL, 1969 )

Assing, Volker, 2016, Revision of the Anaulacaspis species of the Palaearctic region (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 66 (2), pp. 201-255 : 230-231

Anaulacaspis persica ( FAGEL, 1969)

( Figs 62–69 , Map 5 )

Melagria persica FAGEL, 1969: 37 f.

Type material examined: Holotype ♂: “ Persia settent., 1862–63. Coll. G. Doria / Coll . et det. A. Fauvel, Falagria naevula Er., R.I.Sc.N.B. 17.479 / G. Fagel det. 1968, Falagria persica n. sp. / Type / Anaulacaspis persica ( Fagel), det. V. Assing 2016” ( IRSNB) . Paratypes: 1 ♂: same data as holotype ( IRSNB) ; 1 ♂: “ Persia merid., 1862–63. Coll. G. Doria / Coll. et det. A. Fauvel, Falagria naevula Er., R.I.Sc.N.B. 17.479 / G. Fagel det. 1968, Falagria persica n. sp. / Paratype / Anaulacaspis persica (Fagel) , det. V. Assing 2016” ( IRSNB) .

Comment: The original description of Melagria persica is based on a male holotype and one paratype from “ Persia settent.” and one paratype from “ Persia merid.” ( FAGEL 1969). Aside from the three type specimens listed above, there is an additional specimen labelled as paratype of Melagria persica by Fagel in the Fauvel collection (locality label illegible). Since it is not mentioned in the original description, it does not have type status.

Additional material examined: Iran: AzarbayjanGharbi: 2 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀ [partly slightly teneral], Shot – Siyah Chesmeh road, pass SW Shot, 39°08'N, 44°38'E, 1760 m, 28.VIII.2008, leg. Frisch & Serri ( MNB, cAss); 1 ♂, Shot – Siyah Chesmeh road, Qarah Kelisa, 39°06'N, 44°33'E, 1860 m, 28.VIII.2008, leg. Frisch & Serri ( MNB); 1 ♂, 3 ♀♀, road Maku – Bazargan, 7 km road to Avajiq, 39°21'N, 44°19'E, 1520 m, 27.VIII.2008, leg. Frisch & Serri ( MNB, cAss). Razavi Khorasan: 1 ♂, 2 exs., 27 km SW Chanaran, SW Frizi, 36°28'N, 58°57'E, 1690 m, 29.V.2006, leg. Frisch & Serri ( MNB, cAss). Ilam: 1 ♂, 2 exs., 10 km NW Eyvan, 5 km W Alamdar, 33°52'N, 46°11'E, 1170 m, 18.X.2011, leg. Frisch ( MNB, cAss). Chahar Mahal-oBakhtiyari: 1 ♂, Izeh–Lordigan, 7 km SW Manj, 31°34'N, 50°34'E, 1250 m, 20.X.2011, leg. Frisch (cAss). Kerman: 1 ♂, 1 ex., 6 km SE Saghdar, Banestan , 28°50'N, 57°55'E, 1930 m, 27.V.2010, leg. Frisch ( MNB, cAss) .

Kyrgyzstan: 2 ♀♀, Turkestan range, Layle Mazar valley , Katran env., 1700 m, 23.VI.2003, leg. Lackner (cAss); 6 ♂♂, Batken, S Quvasoy, Majdan, 40°05'N, 72°04'E, 1370 m, 17.VI.2012, leg. Frisch ( MNB, cAss) .

Redescription: Body length 2.1–2.5 mm; length of forebody 1.1–1.2 mm. Coloration: head reddish to dark-brown; pronotum reddish; elytra yellowish to reddish-yellow with a more or less pronounced and more or less extensive medio-lateral dark spot; abdomen darkbrown to blackish-brown with the posterior portions of segments VII and VIII and usually also the posterior and lateral portions of segments III–V, rarely all of segments III–V paler; legs pale-yellowish; antennae yellowishbrown, with the basal 3–4 antennomeres yellow.

Head distinctly transverse, 1.20–1.25 times as broad as long, with weakly pronounced sexual dimorphism; punctation moderately sparse. Eyes distinctly longer than postocular region in dorsal view. Antenna 0.9–1.0 mm long and rather slender; antennomere IV approximately as long as broad; antennomeres V–X increasingly transverse and of gradually increasing width, X approximately 1.5 times as broad as long.

Pronotum indistinctly transverse, 1.05–1.10 times as broad as long and approximately as broad as, or slightly narrower than, head; sexual dimorphism weakly pronounced.

Elytra as long as, or slightly longer than, elytra; punctation moderately dense and very fine. Hind wings fully developed.

Abdomen narrower than elytra; punctation of tergites denser and more distinct in anterior than in posterior portions of tergites; posterior margin of tergite VIII ( Figs 62–63 ) conspicuously produced in the middle, this projection with a fringe of dense long and thin setae, postero-laterally with a pronounced cluster of long thin setae on either side.

♂: head with indistinct postero-median depression or impression and with moderately fine punctation; pronotum with fine median sulcus and relatively indistinct impression in postero-median portion, punctation similar to that of head; sternite VIII ( Fig. 64 ) with strongly convex or obtusely pointed posterior margin; median lobe of aedeagus ( Figs 65–69 ) approximately 0.25 mm long; ventral process apically of broadly triangular shape in ventral view.

♀: head with very fine punctation; pronotum without median sulcus and with very fine punctation; sternite VIII with broadly convex posterior margin.

Intraspecific variation: The postero-median process of the abdominal tergite VIII is usually of more or less triangular shape. In one male from Iran, however, this process is apically rounded.

Comparative notes: Anaulacaspis persica is distinguished from its congeners of similarly small size and coloration particularly by the conspicuous shape of tergite VIII and by the shape of the median lobe of the aedeagus.

Distribution and natural history: This species has been recorded from several localities in Iran and in Kyrgyzstan ( Map 5 ). The altitudes indicated on the labels range from 1170 to 1930 m. Teneral specimens were found in August.

Figures

Map 5: Distributions of Anaulacaspis flavomarginata (white diamonds), A. pamphylica (black star), A. inexpectata (white circles), and A. persica (black circles) in the West Palaearctic and Middle Asia, based on revised records.

Figs 49–69: Anaulacaspsis libanotica (49–51), A. sinuata (52–56), A. nigerrima (57–61), and A. persica (62–69): male tergite VIII (49, 52, 57, 62–63); male sternite VIII (50, 53, 58, 64); female sternite VIII (51, 56); median lobe of aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view (54–55, 59–61, 65–69). Scale bars: 0.1 mm.