Phacophallus tuniseus, Bordoni, Arnaldo, 2007

Bordoni, Arnaldo, 2007, Palaearctic Xantholinini of the Museum of Zoology in Lund, Sweden, with description of two new species (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae). 182 ° contribution to the knowledge of the Staphylinidae, Zootaxa 1624, pp. 59-68 : 60

Phacophallus tuniseus n. sp.

( Figs. 1–2 )

Type material. Holotype ɗ: Tunisia: Sousse, T. Palm 17–29.V.1969 ( MZLU). Paratypes: same data, 7 ΨΨ ( MZLU),1 ɗ, 4 ΨΨ (cB); Hammamet, T. Palm 4–11. II.1959, 1 Ψ ( MZLU), 1 Ψ (cB).

Description. Body length 6.8 mm (holotype) length from anterior margin of head to posterior margin of elytra 2.8 mm (holotype). Body glossy, reddish-brown with head black and elytra variably coloured, ranging from brown with lateral margins yellowish to yellow with brown suture.

Posterior margin of the sixth visible sternite with feeble median protrusion ( Fig. 1 ), internal sac of aedeagus very short, flattened, subrectangular, with very fine scales ( Fig. 2 ).

Notes. The new species is very closely related to P. parumpunctatus from which it is hardly distinguishable by external characters: body larger and stronger; head larger, distinctly dilated posteriad; pronotum wider, anteriorly distinctly dilated; elytra shorter and wider, with marked humeri; abdomen with sparser puncturation.

Phacophallus tuniseus can be separated from all its congeners by the distinctive structure of the internal sac of the aedeagus: the sac is very short and subrectangular, and covered by small scales. In all other species of Phacophallus Coiffait, 1956 the internal sac is a very long coiled tube, predominantly with some spines (except for P. pallidipennis (Motschulsky, 1858) and P. m a r t e nsi Bordoni, 2002 from the Oriental Region).

In examined specimens of P. tuniseus the body length is variable: some females are almost 8 mm length.

Distribution. Tunisia.

Etymology. From the name of Tunisia.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 7. Phacophallus tuniseus n. sp. (1 – 2): sternite of the male sixth visible segment (1), aedeagus in dorsal view (2). Stenistoderus cephalotes (Kraatz) (3 – 5): male genital segment (3), sternite of the same (4), aedeagus in dorsal view (5). Xantholinus (Calolinus) cypriacus n. sp. (6 – 7): aedeagus in dorsal view (6), spines of the internal sac in ventral view (7). Scale of aedeagi = 0.1 mm.