Sunius rectus, 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 : 92-93

4.54. Sunius rectus nov.sp. ( Figs. 132-134 , Map 20 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype 3: "Prov. d'Alger, Teniet el Haad, de Vauloger / seminigra Fair. C. S. / Hypomedon seminiger Fairm., G. Fagel det. 1962 / Holotypus 3 Sunius rectus sp. n. det. V. Assing 2007" ( MNHUB).

D e s c r i p t i o n: Small species, 2.6 mm. External appearance (coloration, size, and proportions) as in S. tuniseus and allied species; distinguished only by the male sexual characters:

3: sternite VIII oblong, with rather shallow posterior excision, otherwise unmodified ( Fig. 134 ); aedeagus shaped as in Figs 132-133 , ventral process in lateral aspect conspicuously straight, subapically distinctly dentate; internal sac without sclerotised spines.

E t y m o l o g y: The name (Latin, adjective: straight) refers to the shape of the ventral process of the aedeagus (lateral view).

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: The species is distinguished from other small-sized, brachypterous and pale-coloured congeners from Algeria especially by the shape of the aedeagus, by the absence of internal structures, and by the morphology of the male sternite VIII. For illustrations of the completely different aedeagus of S. vaulogeri , which, too, was found near Theniet el Had by the same collector, see Figs 135-138 . From S. mouzaianus , whose ventral process of the aedeagus is of similar shape in lateral view, S. rectus is separated by the less deep posterior excision and the denser pubescence of the male sternite VIII, the different shape of the ventral aspect of the ventral process, as well as by the absence of sclerotised internal structures; for illustrations of the male sexual characters of S. mouzaianus see Figs 139-142.

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 type locality is situated in the environs of Theniet el Had, central northern Algeria, some 150 km to the southwest of Algier ( Map 20 ). Bionomic data are not available.

Figures

Map 20: Distributions of species of the S. seminiger group in Algeria: Sunius berberus (COIFFAIT) (filled circles), S. baboricus nov.sp. (open circle), S. mouzaianus nov.sp. (filled square), S. vaulogeri (COIFFAIT) (open square), and S. rectus nov.sp. (open square).

Figs 132-138: Sunius rectus nov.sp. (132-134) and S. vaulogeri (COIFFAIT) (135-138): (132-133, 135-136) aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view; (134, 138) male sternite VIII; (137) internal structures of aedeagus in lateral view. Scale bars: 134, 138: 0.2 mm; 132-133, 135-137: 0.1 mm.

Figs 139-146: Sunius mouzaianus nov.sp. (139-142) and S. baboricus nov.sp. (143-146): (139-140, 143-144) aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view; (141, 145) internal structures of aedeagus in lateral view; (142, 146) male sternite VIII. Scale bars: 142, 146: 0.2 mm; 139-141, 143-145: 0.1 mm.