Geostiba (Tropogastrosipalia) heliophila, Assing, 2009

Assing, V., 2009, A revision of Geostiba of the Western Palaearctic region. XIX. New species from Turkey and Iran and additional records, with an updated key and a catalogue of the species of the Eastern Mediterranean, the Caucasus, and adjacent regions (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 41 (2), pp. 1191-1246 : 1197-1199

Geostiba (Tropogastrosipalia) heliophila nov.sp. ( Figs 9-15 )

Holotype Ƌ: "TR [36] - Kastamonu, 40 km NW Kastamonu, 41°42'05"N, 33°28'17"E, 1090 m, calcareous slope, 9.IV.2009, V. Assing / Holotypus Ƌ Geostiba heliophila sp. n. det. V. Assing 2009" (cAss) . Paratypes: 10♀♀: same data as holotype (cAss, OÖLL) ; 2ƋƋ, 9♀♀: same data as holotype, but leg. P. Wunderle (cWun) .

D e s c r i p t i o n: Body length 2.4-3.0 mm. Coloration variable: head and abdomen blackish, occasionally with abdominal segments III-IV and VIII-X more or less distinctly paler brown; pronotum and elytra reddish to dark brown; legs yellowish; antennae brown to dark brown, with the basal 2-3 antennomeres paler.

Head approximately as long as wide ( Figs 9-10 ); punctation extremely fine, barely noticeable; surface with shallow microreticulation. Eyes approximately half as long as postocular region in dorsal view, or smaller.

Pronotum with pronounced sexual dimorphism ( Figs 9-10 ); punctation extremely fine, barely noticeable; microreticulation similar to that of head or slightly more pronounced.

Elytra with moderately pronounced sexual dimorphism, 0.42-0.50 times as long as pronotum ( Figs 9-10 ); microsculpture very shallow, less pronounced than that of head and pronotum. Hind wings reduced.

Abdomen ( Fig. 11 ) approximately as wide as elytra; punctation very fine and sparse; microreticulation distinct, but rather shallow; posterior margin of tergite VII without palisade fringe; tergites IV, V, and VII with sexual dimorphism; posterior margin of tergite VIII weakly convex in both sexes.

Ƌ (with fully developed secondary sexual characters): pronotum elongated, of oblong ovoid shape, produced posteriorly, approximately 1.15 times as long as wide, lateral margins not sinuate posteriorly, posterior margin weakly and narrowly concave in the middle; elytra with short and rather weakly elevated sutural carinae in anterior half, postero-laterally with oblique impressions, punctation distinctly granulose ( Fig. 9 ); abdominal tergites III and IV with median tubercle ( Fig. 11 ); process of tergite VII rather short and not very slender in lateral view ( Fig. 12 ); median lobe of aedeagus as in Fig. 13 .

♀: pronotum of shortly ovoid shape, weakly transverse or, at most, approximately as long as wide, posterior margin truncate or weakly convex; elytra with, at most, weakly granulose punctation ( Fig. 10 ); tergites III, IV, and VII unmodified; spermatheca with proximal portion of capsule conspicuously transparent ( Fig. 14 ).

E t y m o l o g y: The name (adjective) refers to the fact that, surprisingly, the type material was collected on a SW-slope.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: UsingthekeyinASSING (2005a), G. heliophila would key out at couplet 68, together with G. brachati ASSING 2000 (Antalya) and G. bitlisensis ASSING 2001 (Bitlis) . It is distinguished from both species by the more slender habitus and smaller average size, the slightly more slender antennae, the shape of the male pronotum (more oblong, posterior margin more distinctly concave in the middle), the shape of the cristal process of the aedeagus, and by the proximally completely transparent spermatheca. In addition, it is separated from G. brachati by the less pronounced microsculpture of the forebody and by the shorter, stouter, and less erect spine-like process of the male abdominal tergite VII. From G. kastamonuensis , its geographically closest consubgener, it is separated by smaller average size and more slender habitus, the more slender and more oblong male pronotum, the presence of tubercles on the male abdominal tergites III and IV, as well as by the shape of the process of the male abdominal tergite VIII and of the cristal process of the aedeagus. For illustrations of G. brachati , G. bitlisensis , and G. kastamonuensis see ASSING (2000b, 2001a).

D i s t r i b u t i o n a n d b i o n o m i c s: As can be inferred from the restricted distributions of other Turkish representatives of the subgenus Tropogastrosipalia , the species is probably endemic to the Karyatağı Dağı and possibly also adjacent mountain ranges to the northwest of Kastamonu, Kastamonu province, northern Anatolia. The type specimens were collected by turning stones on a grassy calcareous SW-slope at an altitude of 1090 m ( Fig. 15 ).

Figures

Figs 9-14: Geostiba heliophila nov.sp. (9, 11-13: holotype): (9) male forebody; (10) female forebody; (11) male abdomen; (12) male tergites VI-VIII in lateral view; (13) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view; (14) spermatheca. Scale bars: 9-11: 0.5 mm; 12: 0.2 mm; 13-14: 0.1 mm.

Fig. 15: Type locality of G. heliophila nov.sp. (photo: P. Wunderle).