Geostiba (Tropogastrosipalia) svanetica, Assing, 2017

Assing, Volker, 2017, A revision of Geostiba of the West Palaearctic region. XXV. New species from Georgia and Greece, and additional records (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 49 (2), pp. 1093-1106 : 1099

Geostiba (Tropogastrosipalia) svanetica nov.sp. ( Figs 7-10 , 17 , Map 1 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype 3: "N 42°54'40 E 43°03'00 (17), Georgien Svaneti Ushguli- Zagaro Pass 2400 m, Brachat & Meybohm 28.6.2017 / Holotypus 3 Geostiba svanetica sp. n. det. V. Assing 2017 " (cAss).

E t y m o l o g y: The specific epithet is an adjective derived from the name of the region where the type locality is situated.

D e s c r i p t i o n: Body length 2.4 mm; length of forebody 0.95 mm. Coloration: head blackish-brown; pronotum reddish-brown; elytra brownish-yellow; abdomen blackish, with tergite II and the apex (segments VIII-X, posterior margin of tergite VII) paler; legs yellow; antennae reddish, with the basal two antennomeres pale-reddish. Microsculpture on head and pronotum very shallow, absent on elytra ( Fig. 7 ). Posterior margin of abdominal tergite VII without palisade fringe.

3: pronotum ( Fig. 7 ) not distinctly modified, weakly transverse, nearly 1.1 times as broad as long and 1.2 times as broad as head, posterior margin broadly and smoothly convex; elytra ( Fig. 7 ) with short sutural carinae (extending along anterior half of suture) immediately behind scutellum and with fine non-granulose punctation, disc very shallowly impressed; abdominal tergites III and IV ( Fig. 8 ) each with a median tubercle; tergite VII ( Figs 9-10 ) with a short, narrow (antero-dorsal view), and erect median spine at posterior margin; median lobe of aedeagus ( Fig. 17 ) 0.22 mm long and with straight and very slender cristal process.

♀: unknown.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: This species is easily distinguished from G. tiflisensis , the only other Tropogastrosipalia species previously recorded from the Greater Caucasus, by much less pronounced microsculpture on the head and the pronotum, a darker head (reddish in G. tiflisensis ), and the male sexual characters: the practically unmodified, transverse male pronotum, male elytra with sutural carinae (absent in G. tiflisensis ), non-granulose punctation (granulose in G. tiflisensis ), and very shallowly impressed disc (distinctly impressed in G. tiflisensis ), modified male tergites III and IV (unmodified in G. tiflisensis ), and a much narrower cristal process of the aedeagus. For characters distinguishing G. svanetica from G. gibberiventris see the comparative notes in the following section. The median lobe of the aedeagus of G. tiflisensis is illustrated in Fig. 16.

D i s t r i b u t i o n: The type locality is situated near the Zagaro Pass in the east of Svaneti region, North Georgia ( Map 1 ). The holotype was found under a stone in a subalpine grassland at an altitude of 2400 m (MEYBOHM pers. comm.).

Figures

Map 1: Distributions of the species of the subgenus Tropogastrosipalia in the Caucasus region, based on examined records: G. svanetica (black diamond); G. gibberiventris (white diamond); G. tiflisensis (black circles); G. artvinensis (white circles); G. pontica (black square); G. solodovnikovi (black star); G. priva (white square); G. khnzoriani (black triangles).

Figs 7-15: Geostiba svanetica nov.sp. (7-10) and G. gibberiventris nov.sp. (11-15): (7, 11) male forebody; (8, 12) anterior portion of male abdomen; (9, 13) male tergites VI-VII in antero-dorsal view; (10, 14) male tergites VII-VIII in lateral view; (15) spermatheca. Scale bars: 7-14: 0.2 mm; 15: 0.1 mm.

Figs 16-18: Median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view of Geostiba tiflisensis (16), G. svanetica nov.sp. (17), and G. gibberiventris nov.sp. (18). Scale bar: 0.1 mm.