Sunius rhodicus ASSING, 2013

Assing, V., 2013, On the Staphylinidae of Rhodes, Greece (Insecta Coleoptera), Linzer biologische Beiträge 45 (2), pp. 1587-1613 : 1598-1600

Sunius rhodicus ASSING nov.sp. ( Figs 14-35 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype: " GREECE - Rhodos [3d], 4 km SW Embonas, Attaviros, 36°12'02''N, 27°50'17''E, 820 m, 19.III.2013, V. Assing / Holotypus Sunius rhodicus sp.n. det. V. Assing 2013" (cAss) . Paratypes: 14, 41: same data as holotype ; 2: " GREECE - Rhodos [3], 4 km SW Embonas, Attaviros, 36°12'02''N, 27°50'17''E, 820 m, 17.III.2013, V. Assing " ; 5, 12: " GREECE - Rhodos [3b], 4 km SW Embonas, Attaviros, 36°12'02''N, 27°50'17''E, 820 m, 18.III.2013, V. Assing " ; 5, 21: " GREECE - Rhodos [3e], 4 km SW Embonas, Attaviros, 36°12'02''N, 27°50'17''E, 820 m, 20.III.2013, V. Assing " ; 1, 5: " GREECE - Rhodos [3f], 4 km SW Embonas, Attaviros, 36°12'02''N, 27°50'17''E, 820 m, 22.III.2013, V. Assing " ; 15, 65: " GREECE - Rhodos [3g], 4 km SW Embonas, Attaviros, 36°12'02''N, 27°50'17''E, 820 m, 23.III.2013, V. Assing " ; 28, 47: " GREECE - Rhodos [3h], 4 km SW Embonas, Attaviros, 36°12'02''N, 27°50'17''E, 820 m, 24.III.2013, V. Assing " ; 1: " GREECE - Rhodos [2], 5 km SW Embonas, Attaviros, 36°12'06''N, 27°49'12''E, 600 m, 17.III.2013, V. Assing " ; 3: " GREECE - Rhodos [14a] 4 km SW Embonas, Attaviros, 36°12'16''N, 27°51'54''E, 1030 m, 23.III.2013, V. Assing " ; 1: GR Rhodos, Attaviros , 36°12'14''N ,

27°51'04''E, 1000 m, 5.IV.2012, leg. Meybohm. The paratypes are deposited in AMNH, BMNH, IRSNB, MHNG, MNHUB, NHMB, NHMW, OÖLL, cAss, cFel, cSch, cWun.

E t y m o l o g y: The name (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: Body length 2.5-3.2 mm; length of forebody 1.3-1.5 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 14 . Coloration: forebody bright reddish; abdomen blackish-brown to black with paler apex; legs and antennae yellowish.

Head ( Fig. 15 ) 1.05-1.10 times as long as broad; punctation sparse and moderately coarse; interstices without microsculpture, broader than diameter of punctures. Eyes approximately half as long as postocular region in dorsal view.

Pronotum ( Fig. 15 ) approximately 1.1 times as long as broad and approximately 0.9 times as broad as head; punctation similar to that of head, but distinctly denser.

Elytra ( Fig. 15 ) approximately 0.7 times as long as pronotum; punctation dense and illdefined. Hind wings completely reduced.

Abdomen slightly broader than elytra; punctation fine and sparse; posterior margin of tergite VII without palisade fringe.

: sternite VII ( Fig. 16 ) not distinctly modified; sternite VIII ( Fig. 17 ) with small posterior excision, in the middle with somewhat denser setae, but without tubercle, otherwise unmodified; aedeagus ( Figs 18-20 ) approximately 0.33 mm long; ventral process strongly curved in lateral view; internal sac with series composed of three larger spines and one very small spine ( Figs 21-23 ).

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: As can be inferred from the external and male sexual characters, S. rhodicus belongs to the S. seminiger group, which comprises numerous micropterous and locally endemic species distributed in the Mediterranean ( ASSING 2008a). In the key to the Palaearctic species of the genus in ASSING (2011c), S. rhodicus would key out at couplet 66 (go to couplet 51 at couplet 47), together with S. fortespinosus ASSING 2006 (western Anatolia: AydÕn Da÷larÕ) and S. sexspinosus ASSING 2006 (southwestern Anatolia: environs of Mu÷la). The new species is reliably distinguished from both of them only by the morphology of the aedeagus, above all by the long and more slender, subapically not dentate ventral process (lateral view), and by the internal structures (spines more numerous, more massive, and longer in S. fortespinosus and S. sexspinosus ). For illustrations of S. fortespinosus and S. sexspinosus see ASSING (2006c).

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: The species is probably endemic to the Attaviros, where it was found at altitudes of 600-1030 m. It was particularly common in the type locality (288 specimens), which is identical to that of Myrmecopora rhodica and Astenus rhodicus ( Figs 34-35 ). The specimens were exclusively collected from under stones. The sex ratio is strongly biased in favour of females. Only 69 (23.5 %) of the specimens are males.

Figures

Figs 14-23: Sunius rhodicus nov.sp.: (14) habitus; (15) forebody; (16) male sternite VII; (17) male sternite VIII; (18-20) aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view; (21-23) internal structures of aedeagus in lateral view. Scale bars: 14: 1.0 mm; 15: 0.5 mm; 16-17: 0.2 mm; 18-23: 0.1 mm.

Figs 24-33: Omalium rhodicum nov.sp. (24-29) and O. henroti COIFFAIT from Cyprus (30-33): (24) habitus; (25) forebody; (26-27, 30-31) aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view; (28-29, 32-33) apical portion of median lobe of aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view. Scale bars: 24: 1.0 mm; 25: 0.5 mm; 26-27, 30-31: 0.2 mm; 28-29, 32-33: 0.1 mm.

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

Fig. 35: Type locality of Myrmecopora rhodica nov.sp., Astenus rhodicus nov.sp., and Sunius rhodicus nov.sp. (Attaviros, 830 m): locality where 288 specimens of Sunius rhodicus were found.