Oxypoda (Sphenoma) barbarica, Assing, 2009

Assing, V., 2009, On some Oxypoda species of the subgenus Sphenoma MANNERHEIM (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 41 (2), pp. 1307-1315 : 1312-1313

Oxypoda (Sphenoma) barbarica nov.sp. ( Figs 7-9 , 15-16 , 21-23, 25 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype 3: " Morocco - Haut Atlas , NE Tizi-n-Test, edge of stream, 1710 m, No. 16, 30°54'12N, 08°18'39W, 29.XII.2002, V. Assing / Holotypus 3 Oxypoda barbarica sp. n. det. V. Assing 2009" (cAss) . Paratypes: 4 exs: same data as holotype (cAss) ; 32 exs.: same data, but " 1540 m, No. 17, 30°54'39N, 08°17'21W " ( OÖLL, cAss, cFel, cSch) ; 24 exs., same data, but leg. Wunderle (cWun) ; 9 exs.: same data, but " 1500 m, 30°55'04N, 08°16'37W, 30.XII.2002 " (cAss) ; 1 ex., same data, but leg. Wunderle (cWun) ; 1 ex: " Morocco - Haut Atlas , 20 km ENE Oukaimeden, SE Arhbalou, 1350 m, N. 9, 31°14'16N, 07°09'53W, 27.XII.2009, P. Wunderle " (cWun) ; 1♀: " E. Andalusien (GR), Sierra Nevada , Lanjaron, 600 m, 23.III.1994, Assing, 12" (cAss) ; 13, 3♀♀: "E-Andalusia (GR), Sierra Nevada , 28.09.93, Wunderle / Guejar Sierra, 1200 m, Genilufer/Gesiebe" (cWun, cAss) .

A d d i t i o n a l m a t e r i a l e x a m i n e d: Spain: 1♀, 10 km W Madrid, Boadilla del Monte, Valdepastores, 25.II.-2.III.1999, leg. Wrase (cAss).

D e s c r i p t i o n: Habitus, forebody, and antenna as in Figs 7-10 . Body length: 3.5- 4.5 mm. Coloration: head dark-brown to blackish; pronotum reddish, usually more or less extensively infuscate in the middle, often leaving only the margins reddish; elytra dark reddish, with the scutellar region and the lateral margins usually more or less extensively infuscate, sometimes almost completely dark-brown; abdomen blackish, with the posterior margins of segments III-VI, the posterior 1/4 of segment VII, and segments VIII-X reddish; legs yellowish; antennae dark-brown, with the basal 1-2 antennomeres yellowish.

Elytra 0.90-0.97 times as long as pronotum; other proportions, punctation, and microsculpture as in O. abdominalis . Hind wings fully developed.

3: posterior margin of sternite VIII strongly convex, but not angled or pointed; median lobe of aedeagus 0.48-0.50 mm long, apical internal structures distinctive ( Figs 15-16 ; ventral process broad, basally parallel-sided, and apically acute in ventral view ( Fig. 25 ); apical lobe of paramere very long and slender, shape and chaetotaxy as in O. abdominalis .

♀: posterior margin of sternite VIII truncate to weakly concave in the middle; spermatheca as in Figs 21-23.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Based on the primary and secondary sexual characters, as well as external characters (habitus, punctation, microsculpture), O. barbarica is undoubtedly closely related to O. abdominalis , with which it was previously confounded. It is distinguished from this species by apparently always fully developed hind wings ( O. abdominalis : dimorphic, mostly brachypterous), slightly larger average size, darker average coloration of the forebody, the shape of the male sternite VIII ( O. abdominalis : posterior margin usually somewhat angled in the middle), the slightly larger median lobe of the aedeagus, the broader and apically more acute ventral process (ventral view), the shape of the apical internal structures of the aedeagus, and the less slender proximal portion of the spermthecal capsule. For illustrations of the primary sexual characters of O. abdominalis see Figs 10 , 17, 24.

E t y m o l o g y: The name (adjective) is derived from Barbar, the ancient Arab word for the people living in Northwest Africa.

D i s t r i b u t i o n a n d b i o n o m i c s: The type specimens were collected in the Haut Atlas, Morocco, and in southern Spain. A female seen from Madrid probably refers to this species, but was not included in the type series. Previous records of O. abdominalis from Northwest Africa and the south of the Iberian peninsula may be based on a confusion with this species. Most of the material from Morocco was sifted from leaf litter (Nerium, Populus, Salix, Rubus) near a stream at altitudes of 1500-1710 m, one specimen from leaf litter in a ruderal deciduous forest near a river at an altitude of 1350 m. The specimens from the Sierra Nevada were sifted from deep leaf litter in a stream valley at an altitude of 600 m and from litter on the bank of a stream at an altitude of 1200 m.

Figures

Figs 1-9: Oxypoda robustior nov.sp. (1-4), O. kirghisica nov.sp. (5-6), and O. barbarica nov.sp. (7-9): (1, 5, 7) habitus; (2, 6, 8) forebody; (3, 9) antenna; (4) abdomen. Scale bars: 1-2, 4-8: 1.0 mm; 3, 9: 0.5 mm.

Figs 10-16: Oxypoda abdominalis (MANNERHEIM) (10), O. kirghisica nov.sp. (11-12), O. robustior nov.sp. (13-14), and O. barbarica nov.sp. (15-16): (10-11, 13, 15-16) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view; (12, 14) ventral process of median lobe in ventral view. Scale bar: 0.2 mm.

Figs 17-25: Oxypoda abdominalis (MANNERHEIM) (17, 24), O. kirghisica nov.sp. (18-19), O. robustior nov.sp. (20), and O. barbarica nov.sp. (21-23, 25; 21-22: Morocco; 23: S-Spain): (17-23) spermatheca; (24-25) ventral process of median lobe of aedeagus in ventral view. Scale bar: 0.2 mm.