Oxypoda (Oxypoda) articollis, Assing, 2016

Assing, Volker, 2016, New species of Oxypoda from Armenia and Georgia (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 48 (2), pp. 1119-1136 : 1124-1126

Oxypoda (Oxypoda) articollis nov.sp.

( Figs 9-15 )

Type material: Holotype ♂: " GEORGIA, Caucasus [10] (Kachetia), Tsiv-Gombori Mts. rng., 5 km W of Telavi , sift, Fagus orientalis forest, 1091 m, 41°53'59.6''N, 45°23'43.2''E, 08.VII.2015, leg. A. Pütz / Holotypus ♂ Oxypoda articollis sp. n. det. V. Assing 2016" ( cAss).

Etymology: The specific epithet (Latin, adjective) alludes to the slender pronotum.

Description: Body length 6.0 mm; length of forebody 2.6 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 9 . Coloration: head blackish-brown; pronotum dark-brown; elytra yellowish-brown with the scutellar region and the postero-lateral portions only indistinctly darker; abdomen brown, with the posterior margins of tergites III-V, the posterior half of tergite VII, and segments VIII-X yellowish-red to dark-reddish; legs dark-yellowish; antennae with the basal antennomeres reddish, gradually becoming darker towards apex, apical antennomeres dark-brown; maxillary palpi reddish.

Head ( Fig. 10 ) weakly oblong; punctation rather dense, fine, but distinct; interstices with pronounced microreticulation and practically matt. Eyes small and weakly prominent, approximately half as long as postocular region in dorsal view. Antenna ( Fig. 11 ) 2.0 mm long and very slender; antennomeres IV-X oblong; antennomere XI approximately three times as long as broad and longer than the combined length of IX and X. Maxillary palpus slender; palpomere III approximately four times as long as broad.

Pronotum ( Fig. 10 ) slender, only 1.12 times as broad as long and 1.25 times as broad as head, broadest approximately in the middle; punctation fine and very dense; interstices with pronounced microreticulation and matt.

Elytra ( Fig. 10 ) 0.85 times as long as pronotum, with very dense and moderately fine punctation; posterior margin strongly sinuate near postero-lateral angles. Hind wings present. Legs long and slender; metatibia 1.05 mm long; metatarsus approximately as long as metatibia; metatarsomere I approximately as long as the combined length of metatarsomeres II-IV.

Abdomen slender; punctation dense and fine, denser on anterior than on posterior tergites; tergites III-V with moderately pronounced anterior impressions; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe.

♂: median lobe of aedeagus ( Figs 12-15 ) large, 0.8 mm long; ventral process deeply bifid apically; internal sac with strongly sclerotized, partly hook-shaped structures apically; paramere 1.5 mm long, apical lobe slender, nearly half as long as basal portion.

♀: unknown.

Comparative notes: Regarding its habitus (slender body with weakly transverse pronotum; long and slender legs and antennae) and the morphology of the aedeagus (ventral process deeply bifid), O. articollis is most similar to O. collaris SAULCY, 1865 (Middle East: Israel, Iran, South Turkey) and O. disiuncta ASSING, 2006 (Middle East: Israel, South Turkey). It is distinguished from both of them by more pronounced microreticulation on the forebody, distinctly smaller eyes, basally reddish antennae, only very indistinctly bicoloured, much shorter, and less convex (crosssection) elytra, and by a much larger aedeagus with a ventral process and internal structures of different shapes. It additionally differs from these species as follows:

from O. collaris by a less slender and less convex (cross-section) pronotum with more convex lateral margins in dorsal view and by a less oblong antennomere XI;

from O. disiuncta by reddish maxillary palpi (dark-brown in O. disiuncta ) and a smaller (in relation to head) and less convex (cross-section) pronotum.

For descriptions and illustrations of O. collaris and O. disiuncta see ASSING (2006).

Distribution and natural history: The type locality is situated to the west of Telavi in eastern Georgia. The holotype was sifted from leaf litter in a beech forest at an altitude of approximately 1090 m.

Figures

Figs 9-15: Oxypoda articollis nov.sp.: (9) habitus; (10) forebody; (11) antenna; (12-13) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view; (14) apical portion of median lobe in lateral view; (15) apical portion of median lobe in ventral view. Scale bars: 9-10: 1.0 mm; 11: 0.5 mm; 12-15: 0.2 mm.