Arianops gorei, Carlton, 2008

Carlton, Christopher E., 2008, Eight New Species ofArianopsBrendel from the Southeastern United States with an Updated Key and Notes on Additional Species (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae), The Coleopterists Bulletin 62 (2), pp. 297-323 : 297-323

Arianops gorei , new species

( Figs. 13–14 , 30–31 , 39 )

Holotype male ( Fig. 13–14 ). / USA: TN: Grunday Co., Tater Cave , 7 mi. ESE Viola, IX-30-2004 J. Lewis & C. Holiday / Arianops gorei Carlton, 2007 Holotype male/. Type deposition, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL .

Etymology. The species is named after Al Gore, Tennessee native, former Vice President of the United States of America, Nobel Prize laureate, and champion of environmental causes.

Description. Holotype male. Measurements (in mm): head 0.62 long, 0.58 wide; pronotum 0.68 long, 0.60 wide; elytra 0.80 long, 0.96 wide; median lengths of visible abdominal tergites 1–5, respectively 0.40, 0.10, 0.10, 0.52, 0.08. Antennomeres 1–11, respectively 0.15, 0.12, 0.18, 0.17, 0.20, 0.15, 0.18, 0.14, 0.16, 0.11, 0.30. Aedeagus 0.55 long, 0.30 wide. Total length 3.30.

Head ( Fig. 30 ). Lateral vertexal carinae absent, vertex rounded postlaterally behind crest of antennal tubercle. Median occipital carina well-developed from cervical constriction to a point just anterior to the vertexal foveae. Vertexal foveae small, nude, shallow, and located near posterior margin of occiput, circumambient sulcus broad, becoming broadly concave between antennal tubercles. Carinae to antennal tubercles not extending to clypeus; clypeus not carinate medially. Labral margin bearing a pair of strong lateral teeth and a small medial pair. Lateral carinae from clypeus to ocular spines well-developed. Ocular spine small, slender, acute, oriented anterolaterally. Mentum toothed.

Pronotum. Basomedian fovea and tumulus absent, submedian spines and bumps absent. Three pairs of shallow, nude, basolateral foveoid depressions present, two near basolateral margin and one more anterior and lateral. Weakly transversely rugose area limited to a narrow band along basolateral margin.

Elytra. Basal margin of elytra constricted, 0.26 X maximum elytral width. Basal depressions and foveae absent.

Legs unmodified.

Abdomen. Barrel-shaped in cross section, dorsally strongly convex, weakly divergent from base, subparallel to tergite 3, then strongly and evenly convergent to apex. Ventrite 3 with a stout, truncate, median lamella along margin ( Fig. 31 ). Ventrite 6 broadly concave medially, and with deeper depressions laterally.

Aedeagus ( Fig. 39 ). Ventral shelf elongate, broad basally then narrowed to an asymmetrical apical lobe that is oriented to the left; lobed area bearing seven stout 314 15–16) A. hiltenae .

setae on dorsal surface. Right margin of shelf near base with a row of three elongate setae. Internal sac armed with an elongate process that extends from interior of phallobase beyond midpoint of ventral shelf; process bearing a row of short recurved spines that extend two-thirds of the distance to the apex and an apical cluster of approximately 12 variably recurved, sharp spines.

Female. Unknown.

Material examined. Only the holotype is known.

Distribution. The species is only known from the type locality in Grunday County, Tennessee.

Comments. External characters of A. gorei are consistent with Barr’s (1974) cavernensis species group. This species, A. stygica Park , and A. pecki Barr are the only members of the group with distinctly reduced eye spines. All three are true troglobites in the Cumberland cave system of Tennessee and are probably closely related on the basis of this character, troglobitic habits, and geographic proximity to each other. The remarkable and somewhat medieval looking internal sac armature of this species is reminiscent of such structures in A. sandersoni (Carlton and Allen 1989) insofar as its position and orientation is concerned, but the structural details are completely different and unique to each species.

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Figures

Figs. 13–16. Dorsal and lateral views, Arianops new species holotypes. 13–14) A. gorei;

Figs. 28–33. Arianops new species. 28) A. folkertsi, head; 29) A. folkertsi, ventrites 3–4; 30) A. gorei, head; 31) A. gorei, ventrites 3–4; 32) A. hiltenae, head; 33) A. hiltenae, ventrites 3–4.

Figs. 34–41. Arianops new species aedeagi, dorsal views. 34) A. carteri; 35) A. clintoni;