Notolinopsis aethiopicus, Bordoni, 2019

Bordoni, Arnaldo, 2019, New data on the Afrotropical Xantholinini. 3. New species from Ethiopia of the Naturkundemuseum, Erfurt (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 69 (1), pp. 79-85 : 81-82

Notolinopsis aethiopicus spec. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:8023CD1F-4527-4606-93CF-95B0DCFEE682

( Figs 15–17 )

Examined material: Holotype: Ethiopia, Oromia prov., S slope Bale Mts, below Riza , 2380 m, 08°43'17"N, 39°43'14"E, J. Schmidt 16.XII.2016 ( NME); paratypes: same data, 1, 4 ( NME), 1, 1 (cB).

Description: Length of body 6.2 mm, from anterior margin of head to posterior margin of elytra: 3 mm. Apterous, reddish brown species. Head sub-rectangular, moderately narrow anteriad, with sub-rectilinear sides and narrowly rounded posterior angles. Eyes small and almost flat. Surface of head with fine, dense, transverse micro-striation and deep, very sparse punctation, apart a wide median stripe. Pronotum massive, of the same width anteriad and posteriad, longer and a little wider than head, with barely rounded sides, very oblique anterior margins continued laterally up to the mid of the pronotum, with almost obsolete anterior angles. Surface similar to that of head, with dorsal series of 6 deep punctures and lateral series of 5-6 finer punctures. Elytra shorter and narrower than pronotum, with barely rounded sides and obsolete humeral angles. Surface with fine punctation, arranged in numerous series. Abdomen with fine, more or less transverse micro-striation and fine, dense punctation, arranged in numerous series on each segment.

Tergite and sternite of the male genital segment as in Figs 15-16 . Aedeagus ( Fig. 17 ) 1.4 mm long, ovoid, with long distal lobule and long, narrow, asymmetrical parameres; inner sac tape-like, long and narrow, folded on itself and covered with closed spines, finer in the proximal portion.

Etymology: The specific epithet refers to Ethiopia.

Distribution: The species is known only from the type locality.

Remarks: The genus Notolinopsis CASEY, 1906 (sensu BORDONI, 2016) is represented in Africa South of Sahara by two groups of species, one in South Africa, composed by winged species, with body more or less dark brown, evident eyes and normally shaped elytra (23 species), and one in Congo, Tanzania and Kenya, composed by apterous species, with body more or less yellowish brown, eyes small and flat and short elytra (13 species) ( BORDONI, 2016).

The collection of some specimens of Notolinopsis in Ethiopia is of important biogeographical interest as it considerably widens to the north the distribution area of the species of the second group mentioned above, especially since the known species occuring in the mountains of the Kivu region and on the Kilimajaro, Elgon and Kenia mountains, under stones but especially in humus of bamboo forests, very far to the Ethiopian borders.

Figures

Figs 12–17:Gyrohypnus aethiopicus spec. nov.: tergite (12) and sternite (13) of the male genital segment and aedeagus (14); Notolinopsis aethiopicus spec. nov.: tergite (15) and sternite (16) of the male genital segment and aedeagus (17) (scale bar: 0.1 mm).