Stenus attenboroughi, Mainda, 2021

Mainda, Tobias, 2021, Stenus attenboroughi nov. sp. and records of Stenus LATREILLE, 1797 from New Guinea (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 52 (2), pp. 1005-1012 : 1009-1010

Remark on Stenus amor

S. amor has been described by PUTHZ (1971) after one single female from Biak Island. Later PUTHZ (1994) described the respective male after specimens from Ambon. PUTHZ (2016) then described a further species (S. eros) from the Birdshead Peninsula, located between Ambon and Biak. During the last ice age, New Guinea, some of its surrounding islands, and Australia formed the continent Sahul. But there was never a land-bridge to Biak or Ambon in the last 100,000 years ( HARRISON et al. 2006; PRATT et al. 2015).

S. amor , S. eros and S. cf. amor from Ambon have one common characteristic that distinguishes them from the other similar species (including S. attenboroughi nov.sp.): The metatarsomere I is nearly as long as the combined length of metatarsomeres II–V and longer than metatarsomere V. In the other similar species the length of metatarsomere I is only as long as the combined length of metatarsomeres II and III. However, females of this ‘species complex’ are currently very hard distinguishable. Their distribution on two isolated islands suggests that the specimens from Ambon may belong to an undescribed species. As long as males of S. amor from Biak Island remain unknown, this question must stay open.