Sunius cordobanus, 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 : 84

4.47. Sunius cordobanus nov.sp. ( Figs. 100-102 , Map 17 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype 3: "Sr. Cordoba, Ehlers / aveyronensis Mathan / Eplsh. vid. / D.E.I. coll. von Heyden / coll. DEI Müncheberg / Holotypus 3 Sunius cordobanus sp. n. det. V. Assing" (DEI). Paratypes: 2♀♀: "Prov. Cordoba, Sierra de Cordoba, 9.IV.1959, Cl. Besuchet" (MHNG, cAss).

D e s c r i p t i o n: In external characters (size, proportions, coloration) highly similar to S. simoni , but puncturation of head sparser and that of pronotum relatively coarser, as coarse as that of head.

3: sternite VII with weakly modified pubescnce and with weakly concave posterior margin; sternite VIII in the middle with slightly denser pubescence, posterior excision of moderate size ( Fig. 102 ); aedeagus shaped as in Figs 100-101 , without sclerotised internal structures.

E t y m o l o g y: The name (adjective) is derived from the name of the moutain range where the holotype was collected.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: From S. simoni , the most similar and geographically closest congener of the S. seminiger group, the new species is readily distinguished especially by the coarser puncturation of the pronotum and by the morphology of the aedeagus, which is larger (ca. 0.4 mm; S. simoni : 0.35 mm), has a much longer and more slender ventral process (both in lateral and in ventral view), and which lacks sclerotised spines in the internal sac. From all other brachypterous species occurring in Andalucía, it is separated especially by the coarser and denser puncturation of the head and pronotum, the broader pronotum, as well as by the different male primary and secondary sexual characters.

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 is known only from the Sierra de Córdoba, an outlier of the Sierra Morena to the north of the town of Córdoba, Andalucía ( Map 17 ). Bionomic data are unknown.

Figures

Map 17: Distributions of species of the S. seminiger group in southern Spain and northern Morocco: Sunius simoni (QUEDENFELDT) (filled circles), S. confusus (COIFFAIT) (open circle), and S. cordobanus nov.sp. (square).

Figs 97-102: Sunius calatravae nov.sp. (97-99) and S. cordobanus nov.sp. (100-102): (97-98, 100- 101) aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view; (99, 102) male sternite VIII. Scale bars: 0.1 mm.