Geostiba (Tropogastrosipalia) janbellini, 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 : 779-781

Geostiba (Tropogastrosipalia) janbellini sp.nov. ( Figs 1-9 , Map 1 )

Holotype: TR [8] Antalya, 35 km NNE Alanya , NE Gündo ÷mus, 1480 m, 36°50'30N, 32°04'07E, 25.XII.2006, V. Assing / Holotypus Geostiba janbellini sp.n. det. V. Assing 2006 (cAss). Paratypes: 5, 9: same data as holotype (cAss, OÖLL).

D e s c r i p t i o n: 2.7-3.1 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 1 . Coloration: head brown to dark brown; pronotum and elytra reddish to reddish brown; abdomen blackish brown to blackish; legs yellowish; antennae dark brown, with antennomeres I-II reddish.

Head weakly oblong; puncturation extremely fine, barely noticeable; surface with shallow microreticulation and with some shine ( Fig. 2 ). Eyes ( Fig. 3 ) slightly less than half the length of postocular region in dorsal view.

Pronotum approximately 1.2 times as wide as head; puncturation variable, in large occasionally distinct (much more so than that of head), in most specimens as fine as that of head; microsculpture similar to that of head ( Fig. 2 ). Sexual dimorphism moderately pronounced.

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Elytra approximately 1.15 times as wide and 0.50-0.55 times as long as pronotum ( Fig. 2 ). Sexual dimorphism distinct.

Abdomen as wide as or slightly wider than elytra; puncturation more distinct than that of head and pronotum, denser on anterior than on posterior tergites; microsculpture shallow; anterior tergites without sexual dimorphism; posterior margin of tergite VII with narrow rudiment of a palisade fringe; posterior margin of tergite VIII weakly convex in both sexes.

(with fully developed secondary sexual characters): pronotum about 1.10 times as long as wide, posterior margin distinctly pointed in the middle; elytra with moderately elevated, contiguous sutural carinae extending along anterior 3/5-2/3 of suture, in postero-lateral area with moderately extensive, not very deep, and somewhat diagonal impression ( Figs 2, 4 ); elytral puncturation moderately granulose; abdominal tergite VII with moderately long, semi-erect (lateral view), and apically rounded (antero-dorsal view) process ( Figs 5-6 ); posterior margin of sternite VIII distinctly convex; median lobe of aedeagus shaped as in Fig. 7 .

: pronotum as long as wide to weakly transverse, posterior margin weakly convex, in the middle almost truncate, with weakly modified marginal setae; elytra unmodified and with finer puncturation; sternite VIII with broadly and rather weakly convex posterior margin; spermatheca as in Fig. 8.

I n t r a s p e c i f i c v a r i a t i o n: As is usual in species of Tropogastrosipalia , the male secondary sexual characters are subject to considerable variation. They are usually pronounced in large males and reduced to various degrees in smaller specimens.

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E t y m o l o g y: I dedicate this species to my son Jan Bellin, whose presence and guitar sounds made the collecting of the type material even more enjoyable.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: InthekeyinASSING (2005a), G. janbellini would key out at couplet 85 together with G. marasica from Kahramanmaraú. From this species, it is distinguished by the posteriorly more distinctly pointed male pronotum, the finer puncturation of the male elytra, the contiguous sutural carinae (in G. marasica narrowly separated), the apically much less acute process of the male tergite VII (ventral view), as well as by the shape of the cristal process of the aedeagus. For illustrations of the sexual characters of G. marasica see ASSING (2004).

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 Taurus range, southern Anatolia, some 35 km to the north of Alanya ( Map 1 ). The material was collected by sifting and floating the soil from the roots of grass and herbs on a pasture at an altitude of almost 1500 m.

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 1-8: Geostiba janbellini nov.sp.: (1) male habitus (holotype); (2) forebody (holotype); (3) head in lateral view; (4) male pronotum and elytra in lateral view (holotype); (5) male abdominal apex in lateral view (holotype); (6) male tergite VII in antero-dorsal view; (7) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view; (8) spermatheca. Scale bars: 1: 1.0 mm; 2-6: 0.2 mm; 7-8: 0.1 mm.

Fig. 9: Type locality of Geostiba janbellini nov.sp.