Gastrallus kayiasi Zahradník, 2023

Zahradník, Petr & Demetriou, Jakovos, 2023, A review of the Ptinidae (Coleoptera: Bostrichoidea) of Cyprus, including new faunistic records and the description of a new species, Zootaxa 5306 (2), pp. 243-265 : 245-247

Gastrallus kayiasi Zahradník sp. nov.

Figs. 1 , 2

Type material. Holotype (male): Limassol prov., Port env., collected from Eucalyptus spp., 0 m a. s. l., 34 o 38’43’’ N, 33 o 0’3’’ E, 27.v.2021, 1 ♂, lgt. J. Demetriou, coll. FGMRI. Paratypes (9 spec.): Limassol prov., Port env., collected from Eucalyptus spp., 0 m a. s. l., 34 o 38’43’’ N, 33 o 0’3’’ E, 3.vi.2021, 5 ♂, lgt. J. Demetriou, coll. PZPC, JDPC (each, one specimen); Akrotiri Sovereign Base Area, Akrotiri Forest Nursery env., Acacia saligna and Eucalyptus spp. forest, collected from Eucalyptus spp., 10 m a. s. l., 34 o 37’36’’ N, 32 o 57’5’’ E, 16.vi.2021, 1 ♂, lgt. J. Demetriou, coll. PZPC; Akrotiri Sovereign Base Area , Akrotiri, cultivated land by the salt-lake, collected from Eucalyptus spp., 5 m a. s. l., 34 o 36’2’’ N, 32 o 58’23’’ E, 16.vi.2021, 3 ♂, lgt. J. Demetriou, coll. (1 spec. PZPC); (2 spec. CHMC).

Description. Male (holotype). Oblong-oval, transversally convex, body length 1.9 mm, greatest width 0.8 mm. Elytra 1.9x longer than wide (elytra width taken at elytral humeri). Bright brown, pubescence golden-yellow, very short, recumbent. Antennae, palpi and legs slightly lighter ( Fig. 1 ).

Head evenly convex (visible especially from lateral view), coarsely and densely punctate, low sheen. Eyes large, flattened, almost rounded with a very small margination near the insertion of the antennae, glabrous. Front twice wider than eye from dorsal view. Antennae consisting of ten, filiform antennomeres; the last three antennomeres strongly enlarged ( Fig. 1A, C ). The 1 st antennomere three times longer than wide, the 2 nd almost round, as long as wide, 1.1 times wider than the first. Antennomeres 3 rd to 6 th, similar in shape, as long as wide. The 7 th the smallest, slightly shorter than previous and slightly narrower than the 6 th. Antennomeres 8 th and 9 th slightly serrated, the 8 th 1.7 times longer than wide, the 9 th twice longer than wide. The 10 th five times longer than wide, elongated oval, as long as the 2 nd to 7 th together and as long as the 8 th to 9 th together ( Fig. 1C ).

Pronotum slightly transverse in dorsal view, 1.3 times wider as long, the widest on the base, in middle narrowest, transversally convex ( Fig 1A, B ). Lateral margins not visible. Pronotum without bulge at the middle in its anterior part. Surface finely and densely punctuated, with coarse and sparse punctures, low sheen.

Scutellum triangular, with blunt posterior apex, 1.5 times longer than wide ( Fig. 1A, E ).

Elytra with shoulders, low sheen, coarsely and densely punctuated. Elytra presenting fine striae, visible especially in lateral view.

Visible abdominal ventrites consisting of four segments, all sutures straight. The 1 st ventrite in middle with large triangular protuberance. 1 st ventrite 1.2 times longer than the other three altogether. The 2 nd and the 3 rd the same length, the 4 th 1.2 times longer than the 2 nd and the 3 rd ( Fig. 1D ).

Aedeagus symmetric, parameres narrow, curved outwards at the end pointed. Median lobe narrow, pointed at the end, shorter than the parameres. ( Fig. 2 ).

Female. Unknown.

Variability. Body length 1.8-2.0 mm, colour of body sometimes darker (dark brown).

Differential diagnosis. The species is very similar to G. laevigatus (Olivier, 1790) and other Mediterranean species of this genus; differs by shape of pronotum and especially by shape of aedeagus (see Zahradník 2007b). The G. laevigatus species-group differs from the second species-group— G. immargonatus —by the absence of a small bump in the front anterior part of the pronotum. In the G. laevigatus species-group, 20 species are currently known from the Palearctic Region, which differ from each other by minimal differences in the shape of the pronotum. The only reliable distinguishing feature is in the shape of the aedeagus, which differs significantly between individual species (see Zahradník 2007b, 2016b), as well as from representatives of this species-group of the genus from other zoogeographical regions (Zahradník 2008, 2009). Females are practically indeterminable.

Habitat. Collected with a beating tray on Eucalyptus spp. in the Akrotiri Peninsula and environs.

Etymology. Derived from “kayias”, a word literally meaning “rock” in the Cypriot dialect, deriving from the Turkish language (kaya). Metaphorically, it indicates a strong, unyielding or stubborn person. This name was chosen to honour Iakovos Demetriou, late grandfather of the second author nicknamed “Kayias”. The nickname is still used by family members.

Distribution. Cyprus (endemic).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Holotype of Gastrallus kayiasi sp. nov.: (A) habitus—dorsal view; (B) pronotum; (C) antenna; (D) abdomen; (E) habitus—lateral view.

FIGURE 2. Holotype of Gastrallus kayiasi sp. nov.: aedeagus.