Sunius wrasei ( SCHÜLKE 1989)

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 : 105-107

4.65. Sunius wrasei ( SCHÜLKE 1989) (173-176, Map 23 )

Medon wrasei SCHÜLKE 1989: 83 ff.

T y p e m a t e r i a l e x a m i n e d: Holotype 3: "Tadshik. Hissar Alai, Warsob-Schlucht b. Duschanbe, 2000 m, 19.VII.1984, leg. Wrase / Holotypus 3 Medon wrasei nov. spec., M. Schülke det. 1987 / Sunius wrasei (Schülke) det. V. Assing 2007" (cSch).

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 Tajikistan: 1♀, Pamir Alai, Hissar mts., Warsob valley at km 55, 1800 m, edge of snow field, 28.VI.1990, leg. Schülke & Wrase (cAss).

C o m m e n t: The original description is based on a single male from "Tadshikistan, Hissar Alai, Warsob-Schlucht b. Duschanbe, 2000 m ". For additional morphological data see the detailed description by SCHÜLKE (1989).

D i a g n o s i s:Ratherlargeandcolourfulspecies; 4.9-5.3mm.HabitusasinFig.173. Coloration: head and abdomen blackish; pronotum and elytra bright reddish; legs and antennae pale rufous.

Head 1.02-1.06 times as long as wide; puncturation similar to that of S. claviceps , but denser, in lateral areas extremely dense; interstices without microsculpture. Eyes approximately 0.35-0.40 times as long as postocular region ( Fig. 174 ). Antennae of similar morphology as in S. claviceps , but longer and more slender; antennomere IV more than twice as long as broad.

Pronotum approximately 1.05 times as long as wide and 0.85-0.90 times as wide as head; puncturation as in S. claviceps , but impunctate midline broader; microsculpture absent ( Fig. 174 ).

Elytra approximately 1.15 times as long and 1.25 times as wide as pronotum ( Fig. 174 ); puncturation as in S. claviceps . Legs somewhat longer than in other species of the S. viator group.

Abdomen approximately as wide as or slightly wider than elytra; puncturation denser than in S. claviceps ; microsculpture more pronounced than in S. claviceps ; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe.

3: sternite VII with distinct (almost semicircular) concavity in the middle; posterior excision of sternite VIII somewhat broader and more U-shaped than in S. claviceps ; aedeagus of similar general morphology as in S. claviceps ( Figs 175-176 ), but larger (0.83 mm) and with distinctly more acute ventral process.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: The species is readily distinguished from other species of the S. viator group by the conspicuously bicoloured body, long legs, the posteriorly distinctly concave male sternite VII, and by the morphology of the aedeagus.

D i s t r i b u t i o n: The species has become known only from the Varzob valley in the Hissar mountains, Tajikistan ( Map 23 ), where both the holotype and the non-type specimen were collected at the edge of snowfields at altitudes of 1800 and 2000 m.

Figures

Map 23: Distributions of species of the S. viator group in Tajikistan, based on examined records: Sunius wrasei (SCHÜLKE) (filled square), S. inflexus nov.sp. (open circle), S. bohaci nov.sp. (filled circle), and S. pennatus nov.sp. (open square). The territory of Tajikistan is highlighted to facilitate geographic recognition.

Figs 173-176: Sunius wrasei (SCHÜLKE), holotype: (173) habitus; (174) forebody; (175-176) aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view. Scale bars: 173-174: 1.0 mm; 175-176: 0.2 mm.