Sunius mordicus, Assing & A, 2008

Assing, V. & A, North, 2008, A revision of the Sunius species of the Western Palaearctic region and Middle Asia (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 40 (1), pp. 5-135 : 68

4.30. Sunius mordicus nov.sp. ( Figs. 68-75 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype 3: " Kyrgysztan [sic]: Kyrgyzhky Alatau, foothills, O..to-Say [sic], ca. 1000 m / Holotypus 3 Sunius mordicus sp. n. det. V. Assing 2007" (cAss) . Paratypes: 13, 1♀: same data as holotype (cSch, cAss) ; 13, 1♀: " 06.07.1993, 5 km south of Akshij , riv Kurty, SO-Kazakhstan, leg. R. Predel " (cSch, cAss) ; 13: " Kasachstan (SO), Karaoi-Plateau , 5 km W Ili, 40 km NNW Kapcagai, 7.07.1993, R. Predel " (cSch) ; 13, 3♀♀: " Kazakhstan, Ile river , Pristan Nauka, V. Kastcheev, 21.09.1981 " ( MNHUB) ; 13, 3♀♀: " Kazakhstan, Kok-pek , Chyngilsu riv., V. Kastcheev, 13.06.2004 " ( MNHUB, cAss) .

D e s c r i p t i o n: External morphology as in dark specimens of S. nigrinus ( Figs 68- 69 ); reliably distinguished only by the male primary and secondary sexual characters:

3: posterior margin of sternite VII broadly concave; sternite VIII of similar morphology as in S. nigrinus , also with finely margined and distinctly U-shaped posterior excision, pubescence unmodified ( Fig. 70 ); aedeagus subapically distinctly dentate, internal sac with two distinctly rod-like structures, one of them very long and the other moderately long ( Figs 71-75 ).

E t y m o l o g y: The name (Latin, adjective: with teeth) refers to the distinctively dentate ventral process of the aedeagus.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Sunius mordicus is a close relative of S. nigrinus , as is suggested not only by the remarkable external similarity, but also by the similar general morphology of the aedeagus and particularly by the derived (distinctly U-shaped and finely margined) shape of the posterior excision of the male sternite VIII. Both species are reliably distinguished only based on the morphology of the aedeagus (shape of apex of ventral process in lateral view) and its internal structures, as well as on the shape of the male sternite VII (posterior margin in S. mordicus distinctly concave, in S. nigrinus only weakly concave).

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 species has become known from several localities in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The type specimens were collected in June, July, and September, some of them at an altitude of 1000 m. Additional bionomic data are not available.

Figures

Figs 68-75: Sunius mordicus nov.sp.: (68) habitus; (69) forebody; (70) male sternite VIII; (71-73) aedeagus in lateral view of males from Kazakhstan (71-72) and Kyrgyzstan (73); (74) aedeagus in ventral view; (75) ventral process of aedeagus in ventral view. Scale bars: 68-69: 1.0 mm; 70-74: 0.2 mm; 75: 0.1 mm.