Geostiba spinosula, Assing, 2007

Assing, V., 2007, Four new species and additional records of Geostiba from Turkey and Crete, and a new synonymy (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 39 (2), pp. 777-790 : 787-789

Geostiba spinosula sp.nov. ( Figs 36-42 , Map 1 )

Holotype: N37°15'53", E36°36' (2), TR Osmanije n. Bahce, Bekdemir , 1200 m, 21.IV.2007, leg. Meybohm & Brachat / Holotypus Geostiba spinosula sp.n. det. V. Assing 2007 (cAss). Paratypes: 2: same data as holotype (cAss).

D e s c r i p t i o n: 2.0- 2.7 mm. Coloration: body uniformly yellowish.

Head approximately as wide as long; puncturation extremely fine, barely noticeable; surface with shallow or very shallow microreticulation and with some shine. Eyes strongly reduced ( Fig. 37 ), smaller than antennomere III in cross-section, without pigmentation and without ommatidia. Antennae distinctly incrassate apically; antennomeres V-X 2.0-2.5 times as wide as long.

Pronotum small, 1.05-1.10 times as wide as head and 1.05-1.10 times as wide as long ( Fig. 36 ); puncturation extremely fine, barely noticeable; microreticulation slightly more distinct than that of head.

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Elytra approximately as wide as pronotum or slightly wider, and about 0.55 times as long as pronotum ( Fig. 36 ); puncturation very fine, but slightly more distinct than that of head and pronotum; microreticulation shallow; sexual dimorphism moderately pronounced.

Abdomen 1.05-1.10 times as wide as elytra; puncturation very fine and sparse; microreticulation very shallow; posterior margin of tergite VII without palisade fringe; posterior margin of tergite VIII distinctly convex.

: elytra with lateral margins sharply edged; abdominal tergite III with pronounced smooth median tubercle ( Fig. 36 ); tergite VII with small spine-like median process at posterior margin, this process flattened dorso-ventrally and of somewhat triangular shape in antero-dorsal view; posterior margin of sternite VIII strongly convex; median lobe of aedeagus shaped as in Figs 38-39 ; apical lobe of paramere slender ( Fig. 40 ).

: elytra unmodified; posterior margin of sternite VIII broadly convex, in the middle truncate ( Fig. 41 ); spermatheca as in Fig. 42.

E t y m o l o g y: The name, diminutive of spinose (Lat., adj.: thorny), refers to the

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minute body size and the presence of a small spine-like process at the posterior margin of tergite VII.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Based on external (pale coloration, strongly reduced eyes), as well as on various derived male primary and secondary sexual characters (elytra with sharply edged lateral margins, presence of a tubercle on tergite III, presence of a spine-like process at the posterior margin of tergite VII, morphology of the median lobe of the aedeagus, shape and chaetotaxy of the apical lobe of the paramere), G. spinosula belongs to the G. confusa group (see ASSING 2005b), which previously included three species from central southern Anatolia: G. confusa ASSING , G. bigibbera ASSING , and G. gibbera ASSING. Among these species, G. spinosula is most similar and related to the geographically close G. gibbera , which is known only from one locality approximately 30 km SSW of Kahramanmaraú. It is distinguished from this species by smaller body size, distinctly paler coloration (in G. gibbera reddish yellow), less pronounced microsculpture especially of the pronotum, shorter antennae, a more pronounced tubercle on the male tergite III, a differently shaped process of the male tergite VII, the different morphology of the aedeagus (ventral process shorter, not bent in lateral view, and apically less acute in ventral view), and a spermatheca with a more slender capsule and a shorter duct. For illustrations of the habitus and the sexual characters of G. gibbera see the figures in ASSING (2005b).

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 some 45 southwest of Kahramanmaraú, central southern Anatolia ( Map 1 ). The specimens were collected under stones on a grassy slope at an altitude of 1200 m (BRACHAT pers. comm.).

Figures

Map 1: Distributions of Geostiba janbellini nov.sp. (filled circle), G. atrioculata nov.sp. (open circle), and G. spinosula nov.sp. (square) in southern Anatolia.

Figs 36-42: Geostiba spinosula nov.sp.: (36) male pronotum, elytra, and abdominal segment III (holotype); (37) head in lateral view; (38-39) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view; (40) apical lobe of paramere; (41) female sternite VIII; (42) spermatheca. Scale bars: 36: 0.5 mm; 37: 0.2 mm; 38-42: 0.1 mm.