Oxypoda (Thliboptera) infissoides, Assing, 2016

Assing, Volker, 2016, New species of Oxypoda from Armenia and Georgia (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 48 (2), pp. 1119-1136 : 1128-1130

Oxypoda (Thliboptera) infissoides nov.sp.

( Figs 24-33 )

Type material: Holotype ♂: " ARMENIA [39]- 25 km SW Kapan, 39°04'01''N, 46°16'10''E, 2150 m, near stream, sifted, 10.VII.2016, V. Assing / Holotypus ♂ Oxypoda infissoides sp. n. det. V. Assing 2016" ( cAss) . Paratypes: 49♂♂, 46♀♀: same data as holotype ( MHNG, MNB, OÖLL, cFel, cAss) ; 25 exs.: same data, but leg. Schülke ( MNB) ; 2♂♂, 5 ♀♀: " ARMENIA [12] - 40 km NW Sisian, Vorotan P., 39°42'36''N, 45°40'30''E, 1960 m, dry oak forest, 30.VI.2016, V. Assing " (cAss) ; 2♂♂, 3 ♀♀: same data, but leg. Schülke ( MNB) ; 1♂, 1♀: " ARMENIA [AR16-09] S Martuni , Sulema Pass, 39°57'58''N, 45°14'13''E, 2340 m, slope with small stream and scattered bushes, litter and roots sifted, 29.VI.2016, leg. M. Schülke " ( MNB, cAss) ; 1♀: " ARMENIA [13]- 20 km S Sisian, Dastakert, 39°21'50''N, 46°01'27''E, 2080 m, bushes sifted, 1.VII.2016, V. Assing " (cAss); 1♂: " ARMENIA [11b]- 50 km NW Sisian, Jermuk , 39°50'02''N, 45°40'21''E, 2110 m, oak forest, 12.VII.2016, V. Assing " (cAss); 1♂: " ARMENIA [AR16-22] 20 km W Goris [recte: 20 km SSE Goris], Shurnukh , 39°21'38''N, 46°24'33''E, 1720 m, Quercus and Carpinus forest, litter and dead wood sifted, 5.VII.2016, Schülke " ( MNB) .

Etymology: The specific epithet (adjective) alludes to the similarity of the aedeagus of this species to that of O. infissa ASSING, 2016 .

Description: Body length 3.5-4.6 mm; length of forebody 1.7-2.0 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 24 . Coloration: head and pronotum blackish; pronotum and elytra blackishbrown; legs pale-brown; antennae brown with the basal 2-3 antennomeres more or less distinctly paler; maxillary palpi brown.

Head ( Fig. 25 ) approximately as broad as long; punctation fine and dense; interstices with shallow microreticulation. Eyes as long as, or slightly shorter than postocular region in dorsal view. Antenna ( Fig. 26 ) approximately 1.1 mm long and rather slender; antennomeres IV weakly oblong or as long as broad, V as long as broad or weakly transverse, VI-IX weakly transverse, X approximately as long as broad, and XI slightly longer than the combined length of IX and X. Maxillary palpus moderately slender; palpomere III 3.0-3.5 times as long as broad.

Pronotum ( Fig. 26 ) approximately 1.25 times as broad as long and 1.55-1.60 times as broad as head, broadest near the convex and nearly obsolete posterior angles; punctation and microreticulation similar to those of head.

Elytra ( Fig. 25 ) 0.90-0.95 times as long as pronotum; punctation very dense, more distinct than that of head and pronotum; interstices with shallow microsculpture; posterior margin strongly sinuate near postero-lateral angles. Hind wings present. Legs moderately slender; metatibia 0.53-0.60 mm long; metatarsus nearly as long as metatibia; metatarsomere I approximately as long as the combined length of metatarsomeres II-IV.

Abdomen ( Fig. 27 ) with segments III-VI of subequal width; punctation very dense on tergite III, gradually decreasing in density from tergite III to tergite VIII; interstices glossy; microsculpture nearly obsolete, traces of microreticulation visible only at high magnification.

♂: sternite VIII with convex posterior margin; median lobe of aedeagus ( Fig. 25 ) 0.53- 0.60 mm long and shaped as in Figs 28-30 , ventral process apically undivided; paramere ( Fig. 31 ) approximately 0.85 mm long, apical lobe slender, slightly less than half as long as basal portion.

♀: posterior margin of sternite VIII broadly convex; spermatheca of variable shape and not distinctive ( Figs 32-33 ).

Comparative notes: Regarding the morphology of the median lobe of the aedeagus, O. infissoides is most similar to O. infissa , a species currently known only from Ossa Oros, Greece, It is distinguished from O. infissa by slightly larger body size and especially by the morphology of the antennae ( O. infissa : antenna shorter and less massive; antennomeres V-X distinctly transverse; antennomere X approximately 1.5 times as broad as long) and by the morphology of the aedeagus ( O. infissa : median lobe approximately 0.50 mm long; apical portion of ventral process shorter). From the sympatric O. recta , O. infissoides differs by longer elytra ( O. recta : elytra approximately 0.75 times as long as pronotum), by the punctation of the abdomen ( O. recta : tergites III-VI with similarly dense punctation), by the shape of the male sternite VIII ( O. recta : posterior margin less strongly concave), and by the morphology of the aedeagus ( O. recta : median lobe larger and of different shape; apical lobe longer, more than half as long as basal portion). For illustrations of O. infissa , O. recta , and other Thliboptera species from Turkey and other geographically close regions see ASSING (2004, 2006, 2012). A catalogue of the previously known Thliboptera species is provided by ASSING (2012).

Distribution and natural history: Oxypoda infissoides is currently known from several localities in South Armenia. The specimens were collected by sifting leaf litter in oak forests and beneath bushes at altitudes between 1720 and 2340 m. The vast majority of specimens was sifted from litter near a stream at an elevation of 2150 m. Part of the material is slightly teneral.

Figures

Figs 24-33: Oxypoda infissoides nov.sp.: (24) habitus; (25) forebody; (26) antenna; (27) median portion of abdominal tergite VI; (28-30) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view; (31) paramere; (32-33) spermatheca. Scale bars: 24: 1.0 mm; 25-26: 0.5 mm; 27-31: 0.2 mm; 32-33: 0.1 mm.