Sunius tauricus, Anlaş, 2018

Anlaş, Sinan, 2018, On the genus Sunius Stephens, 1829 of Turkey. V. A new micropterous species from central southern Anatolia, with additional records from the western Mediterranean region (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae), Revue suisse de Zoologie 125 (1), pp. 17-20 : 18-20

Sunius tauricus sp. n.

Figs 1-8

Holotype: AZMM; ♂; 28.V.2016; Turkey, Karaman province, Toros Mts., Ayrancı- Erdemli road, Yüğlük Hill , 2180 m, 37°02’49”N 34°00’26”E; leg. Anlaş, Örgel & Yaman.

Paratypes: AZMM, MHNG; 14♂♂, 10♀♀, same data as holotype .

Type locality: Turkey, Karaman Province, Toros Mountain, Yüğlük Hill , 2180 m .

Description: Small species, body length 2.4-2.7 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 1 . Colouration: Forebody uniformly reddish; abdomen dark brown; legs pale yellow; antennae reddish.

Head oblong ( Figs 1-2 ), approximately 1.10-1.15 times as long as wide; lateral margins in dorsal view straight and slightly diverging posteriad; punctation coarse, well-defined, and relatively sparse, in lateral area slightly denser than in medio-dorsal area; microsculpture absent, eyes small ( Fig. 2 ), weakly projecting from lateral outline of head, postocular region in dorsal view approximately three times as long as eyes. Antennae moderately slender, approximately 0.80-0.85 mm long.

Pronotum ( Fig. 1-2 ) approximately 0.90-0.95 times as wide as head, and about 1.05-1.10 times as long as wide; lateral margins subparallel and distinctly diverging posteriad in dorsal view; microsculpture absent; punctation as coarse as that of head, medial line impunctate.

Elytra ( Figs 1-2 ) approximately as wide as pronotum and at suture about 0.75 times as long as pronotum; punctation finer and denser than that of pronotum and head, and weakly granulose; microsculpture indistinct. Hind wings strongly reduced.

Abdomen wider than elytra ( Fig. 1 ), approximately 1.05 times as wide as elytra, widest at segments VI- VII; punctation dense and fine; microsculpture shallow; posterior margin of tergite VII without palisade fringe.

Male: Abdominal sternite VII not distinctly modified but posterior margin weakly concave in middle ( Fig. 3 ); posterior margin of sternite VIII with relatively wide emargination, posteriorly with median cluster of very weak pubescence, tubercule absent ( Fig. 4 ); aedeagus approximately 0.35-0.38 mm long, shaped as in Figs 5-8 , with apical portion of ventral process slightly dentate in lateral view, base of ventral process in lateral view broadly concave, not deep, and slightly curved, internal sac with a series of six mixed large and small spines.

Distribution and bionomics: The new species was collected only once in the Yüğlük Hill, Taurus Mountains, Karaman province, central southern Anatolia, where it was found under stones at an elevation of 2180 m.

Etymology: The name is derived from the Toros Mountains, the mountain range where the type locality is situated.

Comparative notes: The species is distinguished from all its congeners by the different shape of the ventral process of the aedeagus, and by the shape of the spines of the internal sac. The similarity in the male sexual characters suggests that S. tauricus sp. n. is most closely related to S. tuberiventris Assing , S. wunderlei Assing and S. balkarensis Assing (see Assing, 2001). The new species is separated from these species by the lack of tubercule on abdominal sternite VIII (in S. tuberiventris : sternite VIII in posterior median area with subcircular tubercle covered with dense pubescence; in S. wunderlei : sternite VIII with longer pubescence on posterior median tubercle; in S. balkarensis : sternite VIII with slightly smaller tubercle), by the broader and stouter ventral process of the aedeagus in lateral view; by the more shallowly dentate apical portion of the ventral process in lateral view; by the different shape and the series of six spines in the internal sac (in S. tuberiventris : internal sac with row of four relatively small spines; in S. wunderlei : internal sac with four larger spines; in S. balkarensis : internal sac with four larger spines).

Figures

Figs 1-8. Details of Sunius tauricus sp. n. (1) Habitus. (2) Forebody. (3) Male abdominal sternite VII. (4) Male abdominal sternite VIII. (5-6) Aedeagus, lateral view. (7-8) Aedeagus, ventral view. Scale bars: 0.5 mm (1-2); 0.1 mm (3-8).