Sunius splendidulus ( BOHÁČ 1988)

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 : 107-108

4.66. Sunius splendidulus ( BOHÁČ 1988) ( Figs 177-185 , Map 22 )

Medon splendidulus BOHÁČ 1988: 440 f.

T y p e m a t e r i a l e x a m i n e d: Holotype 3: "USSR-Turkmenistan, Annau, IV.1979, Kara-kum des., J. Boháč lgt. / Holotypus / Medon splendidus [sic] sp. n. Boháč det. 88 / Sunius splendidulus (Boháč) det. V. Assing 2007" (cBoh).

C o m m e n t: The original description is based on a holotype male from "Annau near Ashkhabad" and a paratype female from "Kopet dagh Mts, 13 km sw Kizylru" ( BOHÁČ 1988).

D i a g n o s i s Rather large species; length of holotype: 5.3 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 177 . Coloration: head, pronotum, and abdomen blackish; elytra reddish, with the scutellar and humeral areas somewhat infuscate; legs and antennae reddish brown, with the femora somewhat darker.

Head distinctly oblong, 1.08 times as long as wide, widest across eyes and distinctly tapering behind eyes ( Fig. 178 ); puncturation coarse and dense; interstices without microsculpture, distinctly narrower than diameter of punctures, except for small median dorsal area. Eyes rather large and prominent, slightly more than half the length of postocular region in dorsal view. Antennae of similar morphology as in S. wrasei ( Fig. 179 ).

Pronotum 1.12 times as long as wide and 0.86 times as wide as head ( Fig. 178 ); puncturation even denser than that of head; with short rudiment of impunctate midline.

Elytra long and large, 1.20 times as long and 1.30 times as wide as pronotum; puncturation dense, finer and less defined than that of head and pronotum. Legs long and slender ( Fig. 177 ).

Abdomen almost as wide as elytra; puncturation fine and dense; interstices with shallow, but distinct microsculpture; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe.

3: sternite VII with broad concavity in the middle; posterior excision of sternite VIII Ushaped; aedeagus of similar general morphology as in S. claviceps , but ventral process with less slender apical part (ventral view) and subapically not dentate in lateral view, and with internal structures of different shape ( Figs 182-185 ).

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: From the other relatively large-sized Middle Asian representatives of the S. viator group ( S. claviceps , S. wrasei , S. acutissimus ), S. splendidulus is distinguished by the more slender and posteriorly tapering head, the more prominent eyes, the longer elytra, and the morphology of the aedeagus. From S. acutissimus , the only other species of similar coloration, it is additionally separated by the longer legs and antennae, the more slender pronotum, and by the less deep posterior excision of the male sternite VIII.

D i s t r i b u t i o n: The species is known only from the Kopet Dag mountains and its outliers in Turkmenistan ( Map 22 ). The holotype was collected from a rodent nest in a desert in April, the paratype with a light trap in July ( BOHÁČ 1988).

Figures

Map 22: Distributions of species of the S. viator group in the Caucasus region and Middle Asia, based on examined records: Sunius claviceps (REITTER) (filled circles), S. acutissimus nov.sp. (open circles), S. basalis (REITTER) (open square), and S. splendidulus (BOHÁČ) (filled square).

Figs 177-185: Sunius splendidulus (BOHÁČ), holotype: (177) habitus; (178) forebody; (179) antenna; (180) male sternite VII; (181) male sternite VIII; (182-183) aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view; (184-185) internal structures of aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view. Scale bars: 177-178: 1.0 mm; 179-181: 0.5 mm; 182-185: 0.2 mm.