Atanygnathus pullus, Assing, 2014

Assing, V., 2014, On the Staphylinidae of Turkey X. Two new species and additional records (Insecta: Coleoptera), Linzer biologische Beiträge 46 (2), pp. 1133-1146 : 1142-1143

Atanygnathus pullus nov.sp. ( Figs 8-10 , 14 , Map 1 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype: "TR - Adana , Eglence Çayi near Eglence, 37°17'N, 35°17'E, 12.IV.2014, Rossi & Kutlay / Holotypus Atanygnathus pullus sp. n. det. V. Assing 2014 " (cAss) . Paratypes: 6, 4: same data as holotype (cAss, MNHUB, OÖLL) ; 9, 1, TR - Adana , Kapi env., Akiatan Gölü, 36°40'N, 35°11'E, 13.IV.2014, Rossi & Kutlay (cAss, cFel) ; 3, 5: same data as before, but 21.IV.2013 (cAss, MNHUB) ; 1: "GR - Pelopónnisos , Patras env., swamp, 23.III.1985, leg. Sprick " (cAss) ; 1: same data as before, but 27.III.1985 (cAss) ; 1: " Israel ( North distr. ), Upper Galilee , N. shore of Sea of Galilee , - 200 m, Kfar Nakhum (Capernaum), 32°53.011'N, 035°34.707'E (shore with stones and gravel), 22.IV.2006 D.W. Wrase [4]" (cSch) .

E t y m o l o g y: The specific epithet (Latin, adjective: dark-coloured) alludes to the blackish coloration of the body, the external character readily distinguishing this species from the similar A. terminalis .

D e s c r i p t i o n: Body length 4.5-6.0 mm; length of forebody 2.0- 2.3 mm. Coloration: body black (except for the narrowly reddish posterior margins of the abdominal segments), with the pronotum rarely slightly paler blackish-brown; legs blackish-brown to blackish, with the tibial bases often slightly paler, the protarsi reddish, and tarsomeres IV of the meso- and metatarsi yellowish to reddish; antennae blackish-brown to blackish, with antennomere I reddish-brown to dark-brown; palpi dark-yellowish to pale-reddish.

Head with sparse, barely noticeable micropunctures and with very shallow, nearly obsolete microsculpture visible only at higher magnification, laterally with three long setae on either side, one at posterior dorsal margin, one in the middle of dorsal margin, and one at anterior dorsal margin of eye. Eyes slightly longer than postocular portion in dorsal view. Antenna 1.3-1.5 mm long; antennomeres IV-X distinctly oblong; IV approximately twice as long as broad; X approximately 1.5 times as long as broad.

Pronotum approximately 1.2 times as broad as long and 1.7 times as broad as head; disc with a median pair of dorsal punctures separated from each other by a distance slightly less than the distance between punctures and anterior margin; microsculpture absent.

Elytra approximately 0.7 times as long as pronotum, distinctly dilated posteriad; punctation dense and distinct; interstices without microsculpture. Hind wings fully developed.

Abdomen with tergites III-IV densely punctate; tergites V-VIII anteriorly densely and posteriorly sparsely punctate; interstices with fine transverse microsculpture visible only at higher magnification; posterior margin of tergite VIII with palisade fringe.

: sternite VIII ( Fig. 7 ) strongly oblong and with strongly concave posterior emargination; aedeagus ( Figs 8-10 ) approximately 0.8 mm long; ventral process apically slender and narrowly convex in ventral view.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s:AccordingtoHERMAN (2001), the genus Atanygnathus JAKOBSON, 1909 contains 45 species. Only nine species have been recorded from the Palaearctic region, two of them from the West Palaearctic and eight from the East Palaearctic, with one species known from both subregions ( SMETANA 2004). The two species reported from the West Palaearctic are the widespread A. terminalis (ERICHSON, 1839) , whose distribution ranges from France to Japan, and A. varicornis (WOLLASTON, 1867) , which is known from North Africa and southern Italy. Atanygnathus pullus is readily distinguished from both species primarily by its distinctly darker coloration and by the differently shaped aedeagus. In A. terminalis , the pronotum is brown to dark-brown with the margins and the posterior portion more or less distinctly and more or less extensively reddish, the elytra are blackish-brown to blackish (usually distinctly darker than the pronotum) with the posterior margins narrowly bright yellowish, the posterior portions of tergites VII and VIII are extensively reddish, the legs are yellowish-brown to brown with the distal halves of the meso- and metatibiae more or less disinctly darker, the elytra are more densely punctate, the male sternite VIII ( Fig. 11 ) is less deeply excised posteriorly, the ventral process of the aedeagus is apically more broadly rounded in ventral view ( Figs 12-13 ), and the internal structures are of different shape. In A. varicornis , the body is of generally paler coloration, the pronotum is reddish-yellow, the apical antennomeres are yellowish-red, and the ventral process of the aedeagus is apically more acute. For illustrations of the aedeagus of A. varicornis see COIFFAIT (1978).

D i s t r i b u t i o n a n d n a t u r a l h i s t o r y Atanygnathus pullus is evidently widespread in the East Mediterranean, its known distribution ranging from southern Greece across southern Anatolia to Israel. The specimens were collected in various wetland habitats (river bank, lakeshores, swamp) at low altitudes. The type locality is illustrated in Fig. 14 .

Figures

Map 1: Distributions of Lobrathium unidentatum nov.sp. (open circle) and Atanygnathus pullus nov.sp. (filled circles).

Figs 7-13: Atanygnathus pullus nov.sp. (7-10) and A. terminalis (ERICHSON) (11-13): (7, 11) male sternite VIII; (8, 12) aedeagus in ventral view; (9, 13) apical portion of aedeagus in ventral view; (10) internal structures of aedeagus in ventral view. Scale bars: 7-8, 11-12: 0.2 mm; 9-10, 13: 0.1 mm.

Fig. 14: Type locality of Atanygnathus pullus nov.sp. in Adana (photo: Walter Rossi).