Astenus (Eurysunius) rhodicus ASSING, 2013

Assing, V., 2013, On the Staphylinidae of Rhodes, Greece (Insecta Coleoptera), Linzer biologische Beiträge 45 (2), pp. 1587-1613 : 1596-1598

Astenus (Eurysunius) rhodicus ASSING nov.sp. ( Figs 7-13 , 34-35 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype: " GREECE - Rhodos [3g], 4 km SW Embonas, Attaviros, 36°12'02''N, 27°50'17''E, 820 m, 23.III.2013, V. Assing / Holotypus Astenus rhodicus sp.n. det. V. Assing 2013" (cAss) . Paratypes: 1: " GREECE - Rhodos [3], 4 km SW Embonas, Attaviros, 36°12'02''N, 27°50'17''E, 820 m, 17.III.2013, V. Assing " (cAss) ; 1, 1: " GREECE - Rhodos [3b], 4 km SW Embonas, Attaviros, 36°12'02''N, 27°50'17''E, 820 m, 18.III.2013, V. Assing " (cAss) ; 1: " GREECE - Rhodos [3d], 4 km SW Embonas, Attaviros, 36°12'02''N, 27°50'17''E, 820 m, 19.III.2013, V. Assing " (cAss) ; 1: " GREECE - Rhodos [3h], 4 km SW Embonas, Attaviros, 36°12'02''N, 27°50'17''E, 820 m, 24.III.2013, V. Assing " (cAss). All type specimens have four workers of a brown Tetramorium sp. attached to the pin .

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 4.9-5.5 mm; length of forebody 2.1-2.2 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 7 . Coloration: body blackish-brown to black, posterior 1/6-1/5 of the elytra yellowish, the yellowish marking extending cephalad along suture nearly to the middle of the suture; legs and antennae reddish.

Head ( Fig. 8 ) approximately 1.3 times as broad as long; posterior margin of head distinctly, that of frons shallowly concave; punctation dense, relatively fine, areolate, and rather shallow; interstices reduced to narrow ridges; surface matt. Eyes approximately as long as postocular region in dorsal view. Antennae ( Fig. 9 ) short, approximately 1.0 mm long; antennomeres IV-X approximately as long as broad to weakly transverse.

Pronotum ( Fig. 8 ) approximately as long as broad and approximately 0.9 times as broad as head, posteriorly distinctly tapering; dorsal surface smoothly convex in cross-section, without distinct impressions, except for a small median impression posteriorly; anterior and posterior angles each with a dark seta of approximately half the length of lateral margin; punctation somewhat coarser than than of head.

Elytra ( Fig. 8 ) approximately 0.65 times as long as pronotum; punctation distinctly granulose; surface somewhat more shiny than that of head and pronotum. Hind wings completely reduced.

Abdomen approximately as broad as elytra or slightly broader; punctation distinct and rather dense; interstices without microsculpture and glossy; posterior margin of tergite VII with narrow rudiment of a palisade fringe.

: sternite VIII ( Fig. 10 ) with anteriorly acute posterior excision; aedeagus ( Figs 11-13 ) approximately 0.72 mm long; ventral process apically of distinctive shape.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Astenus rhodicus is readily distinguished from other consubgeners particularly by the distinctive shape of the apex of the ventral process of the aedeagus. In the key to the Turkish and Caucasian myrmecophilous species of the subgenus Eurysunius REITTER 1909 ( ASSING 2002), it would key out together with A. bicoloratus ASSING 2002 from Ordu, from which it differs by the much less transverse pronotum alone. In fact, the only other geographically close myrmecophilous Eurysunius whose pronotum is not distinctly transverse is A. brachati ASSING 2011 from Bursa, which, in addition to the differently shaped aedeagus, is distinguished from A. rhodicus by the more slender antennae and the different coloration alone ( A. brachati : antennomeres IV-X nearly 1.5 times as long as broad; posterior margins of the elytra very narrowly yellowish). For illustrations of A. brachati see ASSING (2011a).

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 type locality is identical to that of Myrmecopora rhodica (see above) ( Figs 34-35 ). The specimens were all collected from nests of a brown species of Tetramorium MAYR 1855 (Formicidae) .

Figures

Figs 7-13: Astenus rhodicus nov.sp.: (7) habitus; (8) forebody; (9) antenna; (10) male sternite VIII; (11-12) aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view; (13) apical portion of aedeagus in lateral view. Scale bars: 7: 1.0 mm; 8-9: 0.5 mm; 10-12: 0.2 mm; 13: 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.