Sunius fokisensis ASSING & WUNDERLE 2001

Assing, V. & A, North, 2008, A revision of the Sunius species of the Western Palaearctic region and Middle Asia (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 40 (1), pp. 5-135 : 98-101

4.60. Sunius fokisensis ASSING & WUNDERLE 2001 (Map 7)

T y p e m a t e r i a l e x a m i n e d: seeASSING & WUNDERLE (2001).

A d d i t i o n a l m a t e r i a l e x a m i n e d: Greece: m a i n l a n d: 15 ex., 25 km NE Lamia, Oros Othris , 39°04'N, 22°44'E, 980 m, meadow, 3.IV.2001, leg. Assing (cAss) ; 4 exs., Oros Vardousia , ca. 30 km SW Lamia, S Marmara, Agias Paraskeis, 38°47'N, 22°07'E, 1270 m, meadow, 5.IV.2001, leg. Assing (cAss) ; 1 ex., ca. 25 km SSW Lamia, near Kaloskopi , 38°42, 22°19'E, 1230 m, meadow, under stone, 6.IV.2001, leg. Assing (cAss) ; 6 exs., Fthiotis , SSE Lamia, Oros Kallidromo, 38°44N, 22°32'E, 1250 m, N-slope, fir forest margin and meadow, 7.IV.2001, leg. Assing (cAss) ; 1 ex., Oros Kallidromo , 38°45'N, 22°30'E, 990 m, flooded meadow, under stones, 12.IV.2001, leg. Assing (cAss) ; 32 exs., Oros Iti , 38°49'N, 22°14'E, 1400 m, N-slope, subalpine meadow, under stones, 10.IV.2001, leg. Assing (cAss) ; 2 exs., Oros Iti , 38°49'N, 22°14'E, 1620 m, N-slope, fir forest with snow, sifted and under stones, 10.IV.2001, leg. Assing (cAss) ; 5 exs., Oros Iti , SE Kastania, 38°48'N, 22°15'E, 2010 m, under stones near snow, 6.V.1999, leg. Zerche ( DEI, cAss) ; 2 exs., Evritania , Kaliakoúda range, 15 km S Karpenisi, 38°48'N, 21°46'E, 1400-1580 m, grassland with snow, 4.V.1999, leg. Zerche & Behne ( DEI) ; 1 ex., N Karpenisi Timphristos range, ski resort, 38°56'N, 21°49'E, 1850 m, grassland with snow, 4.V.1999, leg. Zerche ( DEI) ; 1 ex., Parnassos , S-slope, 1200 m, 11.X.2000, leg. Schmalfuss ( SMNS). P e l o p ó n n i s o s: 2exs., Panahaiko,SEAnoKastritsi, 38°15'N, 21°52'E, 1575 m, NWslope, grassland with snow, 24.IV.1999, leg. Zerche ( DEI, cAss) ; 1 ex., Panahaiko , above Ano Kastritsi, 38°16'N, 21°51'E, 900 m, under stones, 38. III.1997, leg. Zerche ( DEI) ; 8 exs., Panahaiko , above Ano Kastritsi, 38°15'N, 21°52'E, 1550 m, grassland, under stones near snow, 30.III.2000, leg. Zerche & Behne ( DEI, cAss) ; 4 exs., Panahaiko , NW Avriokampbos, 38°11'N, 21°54'E, 1325 m, 1.IV.2000, leg. Zerche & Behne ( DEI) .

D i a g n o s i s: Reliably distinguished from other small species of the Mediterranean only by the male sexual characters:

3: sternite VII at posterior margin with shallow median tubercle; sternite VIII with the usual posterior excision, otherwise unmodified; aedeagus as figured by ASSING & WUNDERLE (2001).

D i s t r i b u t i o n: The distribution of this species is confined to southern central Greece (Fokis, Fthiothis, Evritania) and to the northern Pelopónnisos, from where it is here reported for the first time (Map 7).

4.61. Sunius menalonicus nov.sp. ( Figs. 154-159 , Map 7) *

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype 3: " Grecia nom. Arkadía, O. Ménalon, m. 1550, 26.VI.1998, Giachino & Vailati leg. / Holotypus 3 Sunius menalonicus sp. n. det. V. Assing 2007" (cVai). Paratype 3: same data as holotype (cAss).

D e s c r i p t i o n: Small species, 2.7-3.0 mm. Facies as in Fig. 154 . Coloration: forebody reddish yellow; abdomen pale reddish brown; legs and antennae dark yellowish.

Head approximately as long as wide or weakly oblong (length measured from anterior margin of clypeus); lateral margins behind eyes subparallel; puncturation coarse and well-defined, not very dense, interstices in lateral areas on average approximately as wide as or slightly narrower than diameter of punctures, in median dorsal region wider than diameter of punctures; microsculpture absent; eyes small, postocular region in dorsal view more than 3 times as long as eyes ( Fig. 155 ).

Pronotum approximately 0.9 times as wide as head and 1.10-1.15 times as long as wide; puncturation similar to that of head, but somewhat denser; microsculpture absent ( Fig. 155 ).

Elytra approximately as wide and at suture approximately 0.70 times as long as pronotum ( Fig. 155 ); puncturation shallow and rather ill-defined; interstices with microsculpture. Hind wings reduced.

Abdomen approximately 1.1 times as wide as elytra, widest at segments V/VI ( Fig. 154 ); puncturation fine and rather sparse; surface with shallow microsculpture and some shine; posterior margin of tergite VII without palisade fringe.

*

Results of the program “Research Missions in the Mediterranean Basin” sponsored by the World Biodiversity Association onlus. XXI. contribution.

3: sternite VII unmodified; sternite VIII posteriorly with V-shaped excision, anterior to this excision with small subcircular elevation with moderately dense, rather long dark pubescence ( Fig. 159 ); aedeagus shaped as in Figs 156-158 , with few very weakly sclerotised (barely visible) oblong internal structures.

E t y m o l o g y: The name (Latin, adjective) is derived from the mountain range where the species was discovered.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: The morphology of the male primary and secondary sexual characters (shape and internal structures of aedeagus, presence of pubescent tubercle on sternite VIII) is most similar to some species of the S. seminiger group from Turkey. The geographically closest representatives are known from western Anatolia (Izmir, Manisa).

The only other pale coloured congeners with reduced hind wings and rather small eyes recorded from Greece are the relatively widespread S. hellenicus ( COIFFAIT 1961) and S. fokisensis ASSING & WUNDERLE 2001 , which is known only from Fokis, Fthiotis, Thessalia, and the northern Pelopónnisos. From both species, S. menalonicus is distinguished by the completely different shape of the aedeagus, by the presence of a pubescent tubercle on the male sternite VIII, by uniformly pale coloration (in the other two species, the head is usually at least slightly darker than the pronotum, and the abdomen is dark brown to blackish), as well as by the slightly ( S. fokisensis ) or distinctly ( S. hellenicus ) smaller and more slender body. For illustrations of the genitalia of the western Anatolian representatives of the S. seminiger group, of S. fokisensis , and of S. hellenicus see ASSING (2006a), ASSING & WUNDERLE (2001), and COIFFAIT (1984), respectively.

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 known distribution of this species is confined to the Ménalon Óros in the central Pelopónnisos (to the northwest of Tripolis) (Map 7), where the type specimens were collected at an altitude of 1550 m. The adaptive reductions of pigmentation, eye size, and wings, as well as the restricted distributions of other species of the S. seminiger group suggest that S. menalonicus is probably confined to the Ménalon range.

Figures

Figs 154-159: Sunius menalonicus nov.sp.: (154) habitus; (155) forebody; (156) aedeagus in lateral view; (157-158) ventral process of aedeagus in ventral view; (159) male sternite VIII. Scale bars: 154: 1.0 mm; 155: 0.2 mm; 156-159: 0.1 mm.