Catops farsicus Giachino & Vailati, 2000

Tahami, Mohadeseh Sadat, Růžička, Jan, Sadeghi, Saber, Jakubec, Pavel & Novák, Martin, 2017, Small carrion beetles (Coleoptera: Leiodidae: Cholevinae) from caves in Iran, with additional taxonomical notes on Anemadus sengleti and Catops farsicus, Zootaxa 4303 (4), pp. 509-520 : 515-517

Catops farsicus Giachino & Vailati, 2000

( Figs 3, 4 , 6–7 , 14–17 , 18 )

Catops farsicus Giachino & Vailati, 2000: 157 (type locality: Iran, Fars, Shiraz, Deh Bava [ca. 29°57′N 51°56′E]).

Material examined. Iran: Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province: Farsan county , Baba Heidar Village , Sarab Cave , 32°18′13.9″N 50°24′27.5″E, 2377 m, 24.ix.2016, M.S. Tahami & Y. Bakhshi leg., parahypogean habitat, 1 female ( ZM-CBSU) ; Lordegan county, Shahsavar Village, Shahsavar Cave , 31°37′59.4″N 50°29′55.5″E, 1197 m, 10.v.2016, M.S. Tahami, Y. Bakhshi & H. Darvishniya leg., endogean habitat, 1 female ( ZM-CBSU) ; same data, parahypogean habitat, 1 female ( ZM-CBSU) ; Isfahan Province: Padena, Dangezlu Village, Dangezlu Cave , 30°51′50.9″N 51°38′38.1″E, 2193 m, 11.v.2016, M.S. Tahami, Y. Bakhshi & H. Darvishniya leg., parahypogean habitat, 1 male, 1 female ( JRUC, ZM-CBSU) ; Padena, Kohangan Village, Kohangan Cave , 30°53′31.9″N 51°38′54.1″E, 2196 m, 27.ix.2016, M.S. Tahami & Y. Bakhshi leg., endogean habitat, 1 male ( ZM-CBSU) ; Fars Province: 25 km NNW of Kazerun, Bishapur env., Shapur Cave [ca. 29°48′12″N 51°36′41″E], 3.v.1996, David Král leg., 1 male, 1 female ( JRUC), same data, 1 female ( JVAC) ; Malousjan County, Malousjan Cave , 29°51′44.6″N 52°27′28.6″E, 1928 m, 12.iv.2016, M.S. Tahami, S. Sadeghi, E. Shaniti & N. Karimi leg., endogean habitat, 1 male ( JRUC) ; same data, parahypogean habitat, 1 male ( ZM-CBSU) ; Haft Barm, Cheshme Talou Cave , 29°50′19.4″N 52°01′38.7″E, 2136 m, 21.v.2016, M.S. Tahami, J. Muilwijk & R. Felix leg., parahypogean habitat, 1 male, 1 female ( JRUC, ZM-CBSU) ; Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province, 20 km SW Yasuj [ca. 30°32′N 51°26′E], 5.–6.v.2007, A. Anichtchenko leg., 1 male ( JRUC) .

Supplementary description. Body length 7.7–8.3 mm in males, 8.4–8.5 mm in females. Ratio of pronotum width/length is 1.60–1.63 in males, 1.59–1.70 in females. Ratio of elytra length/width is 1.3–1.4 in males, 1.4 in females. Body colour pale brown to light brown. Elytra with distinct, superficial striae, composed of large punctures ( Figs. 3–4 ).

Male. Ventrites 3–7 without impressions in medial parts, posterior margin simply rounded. Ventrite 8 regularly rounded posteriorly, with wide, shallow medial emargination anteriorly. Genital segment wide, narrow laterally, short anteriorly ( Fig. 16 , gp). Spiculum gastrale short, distinctly sclerotized medially, bifid anteriorly ( Fig. 16 , sg). Aedeagus with median lobe compact, parallel laterally, regularly rounded in dorsolateral view ( Figs. 14–15 , ml). Apex of median lobe trapezoid in shape, almost straight laterally (only slightly sub-sinuate), with large, rounded lateral lobes and distinct, subrectangular median emargination ( Fig. 17 , ml). Valves of genital orifice straight, elongate, almost reaching the apical emargination of median lobe, apex narrowly rounded ( Fig. 17 ). Endophallus with distinct, elongate medial sclerotization and with regular lateral row of large spines, more developed basally ( Fig. 14 ), with heavily sclerotized, basal trilobed structure in dorsal view ( Fig. 14 ) and apically with a single, large, median symmetrical spine in dorsal view ( Fig. 17 ). Paramera short, slender, distinctly shorter than median lobe, with apical seta ( Fig. 17 , pa).

Female. Tergite 8 posteriorly regularly rounded, with median desclerotized region in dorsal view, posterior margin only weakly, narrowly emarginate medially, without apical denticle ( Fig. 6 , t8). Ventrite 8 triangular, transverse, posterior margin with small central bulb in ventral view ( Fig. 7 ), spiculum ventrale widely rounded posteriorly in ventral view ( Fig. 7 , sv). Tergite 10 subpentagonal, broadly oval in dorsal view ( Fig. 6 , t10). Tergite 9 very broad, laterotergites only very narrowly separated in ventral view ( Fig. 7 , t9). Coxite robust, tubular in ventral view ( Fig. 7 , co). Ventral sclerite between coxites subrectangular, distinctly sclerotized ( Fig. 7 , vs).

Remarks. The species was described based on a single female from Iran, Fars Province, Shiraz, Deh Bava ( Giachino & Vailati 2000, Perreau et al. 2017). Together with 10 additional species (eight of them being local endemics of Near East and Transcaucasia), it belongs to the Catops picipes species group ( Perreau 2000, Giachino & Vailati 2000), which includes generally very large species, with body length over 6.5 mm ( Giachino & Vailati 2000). Catops farsicus is probably the largest known species of Catops Paykull, 1798 , with a body length reaching 7.7–8.5 mm.

The apex of the aedeagus of C. farsicus most closely resembles that of C. kulzeri Jeannel, 1936 from eastern Turkey—both species share an aedeagus with a trapezoid, only sub-sinuate lateral apex of the median lobe in males, a distinct apical emargination and elongate valves of the genital orifice with a pointed or narrowly rounded apex ( Giachino & Vailati 2000: 164, fig. 211; Fig. 17 ). In other related species of the C. picipes species group from the Near East, the apex of the aedeagus is more rounded laterally, apical emargination is v-shaped, and/or valves of genital orifice are shorter and apically truncate ( Giachino & Vailati 2000: 164, figs. 212–215). Both species differs in body size and shape. The body length is generally greater in C. farsicus , 7.7–8.3 mm in males and 8.4–8.5 mm in females. The body length is smaller in C. kulzeri , 7.0– 7.3 mm in males and 7.0– 7.4 mm in females. The elytra are slightly more elongated in C. farsicus (ratio of elytral length/width is 1.3–1.4 in males, 1.4 in females), stouter in C. kulzeri (ratio of elytral length/width is 1.20–1.35 in males, 1.25–1.35 in females). In C. farsicus , the apex of aedeagus is more narrowly emarginated apically, and the valves of the genital orifice are slightly shorter and broader; the apical denticle of the endophallus is wide and shortly pointed ( Fig. 17 ); C. kulzeri has the apex of aedeagus with a wider emargination apically, the valves of the genital orifice are more elongate and slender, and the apical denticle of the endophallus has a long, slender point ( Giachino & Vailati 2000: 164, fig. 211).

We have not examined the female holotype of C. farsicus . Species identification is provided here based on extremely large size of examined specimens (corresponding with the size of the holotype, see above), and also on combination of the distinctly elongate elytra and the transverse pronotum (compare details provided above and illustrations on Figs. 3–4 and in Giachino & Vailati (2000: 159, fig. 209)). The type locality of C. farsicus ( Giachino & Vailati 2000: 25, fig. 16) is located in the same area as the here examined material ( Fig. 18 ). The only other species of Catops picipes species group known from Iran is C. kurdicus Giachino & Vailati, 2000 , described from Kermanshah Province ( Giachino & Vailati 2000: 25, fig. 16), ca. 350 km north-west from the known distribution of C. farsicus ; also, its apex of aedeagus has valves of the genital orifice of different shape ( Giachino & Vailati 2000: 164, fig. 212) from the here examined material ( Fig. 17 ).

Occurrence in caves is also reported in Turkey for the related Catops giganteus Breit, 1913 and C. arifensis Giachino & Vailati, 2000 ; for some other species of this species group, no detailed ecological data are available ( Giachino & Vailati 2000). All these species have developed flying wings and colonize subterranean habitats probably only as troglophiles.

Distribution. Endemic Iranian species ( Fig. 18 ), first records from Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Isfahan and Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Provinces.

Figures

FIGURE 18. Known distribution of Anemadus sengleti (squares) and Catops farsicus (circles).

FIGURES 3 – 4. Habitus in dorsal view of Catops farsicus Giachino & Vailati (3, ♂, 4, ♀, both Shapur Cave).

FIGURES 5 – 7. Habitus in dorsal view of Cholevinus pallidus pallidus (Ménétries, 1832) (5, ♂, Kohangan Cave). Female genitalia of Catops farsicus Giachino & Vailati (6, dorsal view, 7, ventral view, Shapur Cave). Abbreviations: co—coxite, svspiculum ventrale, t 8 — tergite 8, t 9 — tergite 9, t 10 — tergite 10, v 8 — ventrite 8, vs—ventral sclerite.

FIGURES 14 – 17. Male genitalia of Catops farsicus Giachino & Vailati (Shapur Cave). Aedeagus in dorsal (14) and dorsolateral (15) views, genital segment in ventral view (16), apex of aedeagus in ventral view (17). Abbreviations: enendophallus, gp—genital plate, ml—median lobe, pa—paramere, sg—spiculum gastrale.