Myrmecopora (Myrmecopora) rhodica ASSING, 2013

Assing, V., 2013, On the Staphylinidae of Rhodes, Greece (Insecta Coleoptera), Linzer biologische Beiträge 45 (2), pp. 1587-1613 : 1594-1596

Myrmecopora (Myrmecopora) rhodica ASSING nov.sp. ( Figs 1-6 , 34 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype: " GREECE - Rhodos [3], 4 km SW Embonas, Attaviros, 36°12'02''N, 27°50'17''E, 820 m, 17.III.2013, V. Assing / Holotypus Myrmecopora rhodica sp.n. det. V. Assing 2013" (cAss) . Paratypes: 1, 2: same data as holotype (cAss) ; 3: " GREECE - Rhodos [3b], 4 km SW Embonas, Attaviros, 36°12'02''N, 27°50'17''E, 820 m, 18.III.2013, V. Assing " (cAss). All type specimens have a worker of black Messor sp. attached to the pin .

E t y m o l o g y: The specific epithet (adjective) is derived from Rhodos, the Latin name of the island where the species was discovered.

D e s c r i p t i o n: Measurements (in mm) and ratios (range, arithmetic mean; n=7): TL: 3.24-3.80, 3.56; AL: 1.238-1.314, 1.286; HL: 0.453-0.468, 0.459; HW: 0.529-0.589, 0.552; PL: 0.483-0.529, 0.499; PW: 0.574-0.657, 0.604; EL: 0.453-0.513, 0.464; TiL: 0.680-0.740, 0.701; TaL: 0.604-0.664, 0.639; T1L: 0.242-0.272, 0.255; T23L: 0.181- 0.211, 0.197; HW/HL: 1.17-1.26, 1.20; PW/PL: 1.19-1.24, 1.21; PW/HW: 1.06-1.14, 1.09; EL/PL: 0.88-0.97, 0.93; TaL/TiL: 0.89-0.96, 0.91; T1L/T23L: 1.21-1.42, 1.29.

Male habitus as in Fig. 1 . Coloration: head blackish-brown; pronotum brown; abdomen blackish-brown, with segments III-IV and apex slightly paler; legs and antennae reddish.

Head ( Fig. 2 ) with extremely fine, barely noticeable punctation; interstices without microsculpture. Eyes as long as, or slightly longer than postocular region in dorsal view. Antennae long and slender ( Fig. 3 ).

Pronotum ( Fig. 2 ) distinctly transverse (see ratio PW/PW) and broader than head (see ratio PW/HW); posterior angles marked; punctation fine, but in most specimens slightly more distinct than that of head.

Elytra ( Fig. 2 ) shorter than pronotum (see ratio EL/PL) and distintly broader than pronotum; punctation fine, but more distinct than that of head and pronotum. Legs long and slender (see measurements); metatarsomere I elongated, approximately as long as the combined length of II-IV.

Abdomen narrower than elytra; punctation fine but distinct, dense on tergites III-IV, somewhat less dense on tergites V-VII.

: head dorsally with shallow impression posteriorly; middle of pronotum very shallowly, indistinctly impressed; posterior margin of sternite VIII broadly convex; median lobe of aedeagus approximately 0.5 mm long and shaped as in Figs 4-5 ; velum of condylite not distinctly elongated.

: head without impression; posterior margin of sternite VIII weakly convex; spermatheca shaped as in Fig. 6.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: The subgenus Myrmecopora SAULCY 1865 previously included eleven species, all of them associated with ants of the genus Messor and distributed in the East Mediterranean, from the Balkans and Crete in the west to the Middle East in the east ( ASSING 1997a, 2001a, 2004c, 2013a). Myrmecopora rhodica differs from its geographically closest consubgeners, all of which are associated with bicoloured Messor species, as follows:

from M. wunderlei ASSING 1997 (southwestern Anatolia) by the less slender antennae, the much broader habitus, and particularly the much more transverse pronotum ( M. wunderlei: PW /PL: 1.00-1.13, mean: 1.05; PW/HW1.03-1.08, mean: 1.05);

from M. pygmaea (SACHSE 1852) (Balkans) by less slender antennae ( M. pygmaea : antennomeres IV-X approximately twice as long as broad or nearly so), a broader pronotum ( M. pygmaea: PW : 0.483 -0.619, mean: 0.563), the less pronounced impression on the male pronotum, the on average longer elytra, and the relatively shorter ventral process of the aedeagus;

from M. hilfi SCHEERPELTZ 1972 (southwestern Anatolia; type material re-examined and directly compared with M. rhodica ) by shorter antennae ( M. hilfi : 1.36-1.43 mm), smaller size ( M. hilfi : length of forebody 1.65-1.70 mm), the more slender body, the less transverse head ( M. hilfi: HW /HW: 1.26-1.36), the more slender pronotum ( M. hilfi: PW /PL: 1.27-1.29), the weakly pronounced sexual dimorphism of the head, the indistinct sexual dimorphism of the pronotum ( M. hilfi : male pronotum with broad and distinct impression in the middle), the relatively shorter ventral process of the median lobe of the aedeagus, and the shorter velum of the condylite of the paramere;

from M. convexula ASSING 1997 (western Anatolia) by larger size (no overlap in most size-related parameters), the sexual dimorphism of the head and pronotum (absent in M. convexula ), the much longer metatarsi, and the larger aedeagus ( M. convexula : 0.45 mm).

For illustrations and measurements of the compared species see ASSING (1997a).

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: All the specimens were collected from the same nest of a black Messor sp. ( Formicidae ) on the Attaviros in a stony grassland at an altitude of 830 m ( Fig. 34 ), together with a female of a probably undescribed species of Dinusa SAULCY 1865 . The type locality is identical to that of Sunius rhodicus nov.sp. and Astenus rhodicus nov.sp.

Figures

Figs 1-6: Myrmecopora rhodica nov.sp.: (1) male habitus; (2) male forebody; (3) antenna; (4-5) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view; (6) spermatheca. Scale bars: 1: 1.0 mm; 2-3: 0.5 mm; 4-6: 0.1 mm.

Fig. 34: Type locality of Myrmecopora rhodica nov.sp., Astenus rhodicus nov.sp., and Sunius rhodicus nov.sp. (Attaviros, 830 m).