Sunius extensissimus, Assing, 2011

Assing, V., 2011, The Sunius species of the Palaearctic region (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 43 (1), pp. 151-193 : 155-157

Sunius extensissimus nov.sp. ( Figs 9-14 , 16-17 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype: " Oman bor., Prov. Batinah, Al-Jabal al-Ahdar mts., SE Ruataq, W Awabi, 430 m, Wadi Bani Awf, L.fang + L.falle, 23°20'0,13''N, 57°29'23,5''E, 19.- 20.XII.2009, leg. Lehmann, Bittner & Stadie / Holotypus Sunius extenssimus sp.n. det. V. Assing 2010 " (cAss).

D e s c r i p t i o n: Body length 3.6 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 9 . Coloration: head and pronotum dark-reddish; elytra bicoloured, with the anterior half infuscate and the posterior half reddish-yellow; abdomen blackish, with the posterior 1/3 of segments VII and VIII reddish; legs reddish-yellow; antennae reddish.

Head approximately as wide as long ( Fig. 10 ); punctation coarse and rather dense, somewhat sparser in median dorsal portion; interstices without microsculpture, narrower than diameter of punctures except in median dorsal portion ( Fig. 11 ). Eyes distinctly projecting from lateral contours of head, approximately 0.8 times as long as postocular region in dorsal view. Labrum with long process on either side of median excision.

Pronotum approximately as long as wide and about 0.95 times as wide as head ( Fig. 10 ); punctation dense, somewhat less coarse than that of head; midline very narrowly impunctate.

Elytra broad and very long, approximately 1.25 times as long as pronotum; humeral angles marked ( Fig. 10 ); punctation very dense, finer than that of pronotum; interstices without microsculpture, narrower than diameter of punctures. Hind wings fully developed.

Abdomen slightly narrower than elytra; punctation very fine and moderately dense; interstices with microsculpture; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe.

: sternite VII with dense pubescence, posterior margin very weakly concave ( Fig. 16 ); sternite VIII transverse and with rather sparse pubescence, posterior excision relatively deep and of broadly triangular shape, its depth approximately 1/4 the length of sternite ( Fig. 17 ); aedeagus 0.72 mm long, ventral process extremely long and slender ( Figs 12- 13 ); internal sac with very large basal and smaller apical sclerotized internal structures ( Fig. 14 ).E t y m o l o g y: The specific epithet (superlative of the Latin adjective extensus: stretched) refers to the conspicuously long ventral process of the aedeagus.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Based on the male sexual characters, particularly the morphology of the aedeagus (internal sac with large spines), and the habitus, S. extensissimus is closely related to S. sinaicus ( COIFFAIT 1961) , which was originally described from the Sinai peninsula and subsequently reported also from Saudi Arabia. The new species is readily distinguished from S. sinaicus by the bicoloured elytra ( S. sinaicus : uniformly reddish-yellow), the much longer ventral process of the aedeagus, and by the shapes of the internal structures. For illustrations of the aedeagus of S. sinaicus see COIFFAIT (1984).

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: Thetypelocalityissituatedin Batinah province, northern Oman. The holotype was collected at a light source at an altitude of 430 m.

Figures

Figs 6-14: Sunius basalis (REITTER) (6-8) and S. extensissimus nov.sp. (9-14): (6) male sternite VII; (7, 12) aedeagus in lateral view; (8) ventral process of aedeagus in ventral view; (9) habitus; (10) forebody; (11) median dorsal portion of head; (13) aedeagus in ventral view; (14) internal structures of aedeagus in lateral view. Scale bars: 9: 1.0 mm; 10: 0.5 mm; 6-8, 11-13: 0.2 mm; 14: 0.1 mm.

Figs 15-17: Sunius basalis (REITTER) (15) and S. extensissimus nov.sp. (16-17): (15, 17) male sternite VIII; (16) male sternite VII. Scale bar: 0.2 mm.