Bryaxis pangeonicus, Assing, 2019

Assing, Volker, 2019, On the Staphylinidae of the Greek island Samothraki (Insecta Coleoptera), Linzer biologische Beiträge 51 (2), pp. 881-906 : 903-904

Bryaxis pangeonicus BRACHAT nov.sp. ( Figs 31-32 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype ♂: "GR-Makedonia, Bez. : Kavala, Mt. Pangeo, ca. 700 m, 11.VI.2002, leg. Brachat / Bryaxis pangeonicus spec.nov. ♂ det. Brachat 8.2019 / Holotypus " (c. Bra) . Paratypes (all in cBra): 4♂♂, 4♀♀: same data as holotype ; 1♂: "GR-Makedonia, Geb. Pangeo , 1200 m, 28.5.99, leg. Wunderle " ; 1♀: "GR - E-Makhedonia [1] Pangeo , rd to ski resort, 40°55'14''N, 24°12'30''E, 590 m, oak forest, 6.IV.2019, V. Assing" ; 1♀: "GR – E-Makhedonia [2] Pangeo , rd to ski resort, 40°55'07''N, 24°12'11''E, 620 m, soil washing, 6.IV.2019, V. Assing" .

E t y m o l o g y: Named after the mountain where this species was discovered.

D e s c r i p t i o n: Body length 1.20-1.45 mm. Body reddish-brown with slightly paler appendages, glossy, with suberect short pubescence (length of setae 0.06 mm), and with scattered longer setae; anterior half of the head, parts of the pronotum, and the elytra with indistinct sparse punctation.

Head weakly transverse (length 0.24-0.26 mm; width 0.28-0.30 mm). Eyes small, as long as the weakly convex temples. Frontal lobe 0.14-0.15 mm broad. Vertex with distinct median keel. Antenna 0.51-0.56 mm long; antennomeres III-VIII of equal width, III weakly oblong, IV-VI globular, VII as long as broad, VIII weakly transverse, IX twice as broad as long, X transverse, broader and longer than IX, and XI large, as long as the combined length of VI-X, and broader than the preapical antennomeres. Maxillary palpi elongate; palpomeres III and IV with few tubercles, IV 2.25-2.50 times as long as broad. Pronotum longer and broader than head, weakly transverse (length 0.30-0.34 mm; width 0.32-0.35 mm). Elytra transverse (length 0.45-0.47 mm; width 0.52-0.56 mm), with marked humeral angles. Hind wings present. Metaventrite posteriorly with shallow impression of semicircular shape. Abdomen 0.24-0.26 mm long, shorter than elytra.

♂: head ventrally with transverse gular impression with elevated anterior margin; antennomere I ( Fig. 31 ) stout (length 0.12 mm; width 0.10 mm), with a distinct round tubercle approximately in the middle, below this tubercle with a broad sulcus directed towards base; antennomere II ( Fig. 31 ) oval (length 0.06 mm; width 0.05 mm), with fine carina on inner side; femora slightly dilated; profemur ventrally with a distinct basal impression; protibia with an incision at apical third; metatibia with a minute apical spine; aedeagus ( Fig. 32 ) 0.29-0.32 mm long; parameres converging apically, with a subapical constriction, and with one long and stout and two fine apical setae; internal structures indistinct.

♀: antennomere I nearly twice as long as broad (lengh 0.10 mm; width 0.06 mm); antennomere II oval (length 0.06 mm; width 0.045 mm).

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Regarding body size and the modifications of the male antennae, B. pangeonicus is highly similar to B. rambouseki (MATCHA, 1916) from Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina. It is distinguished from this species by a shorter female antennomere I, a shorter maxillary palpomere IV, and the different shapes of the internal structures and the parameres of the aedeagus. The aedeagus of B. rambouseki is figured by KARAMAN (1957) (as Bythinites lamerei KARAMAN, 1957).

D i s t r i b u t i o n a n d n a t u r a l h i s t o r y: Bryaxis pangeonicus is probably endemic to Oros Pangéo, a mountain known for its rich endemic fauna. The specimens were collected partly by sifting oak and beech litter, partly by washing soil. The altitudes range from 590 to 1200 m.

Figures

Figs 27-32: Apimela procera (27), Tychobythinus assingi (28), Bryaxis samothracicus (29-30), and Bryaxis pangeonicus (31-32): (27) female sternite VIII; (28, 30, 32) aedeagus in dorsal view; (29, 31) male antennomeres I-II. Scale bars: 27: 0.2 mm; 28, 30, 32: 0.1 mm; 29, 31: without scale.