Sunius pinniger, Assing, 2006

Assing, Volker, 2006, On the Turkish species of Sunius. VII. Five new micropterous species from western Anatolia and additional records (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae, Paederinae), Beiträge Zur Entomologie = Contributions to Entomology 56 (2), pp. 297-315 : 301-303

Sunius pinniger sp. n. ( Figs 12-24 , Map 1 )

Type material:

Holotype : TR [4] - Izmir, 440 m, ca. 80 km NW Izmir, W Karaburun, 38°37'39N, 26°29'26E, 4.IV.2006, V. Assing / Holotypus  Sunius pinniger sp. n. det. V. Assing 2006 (cAss) . Paratypes: 3 , 2 : same data as holotype (cAss, cWun); 2  : same data, but leg. S. Anlaş (cAnl) .

Description:

Small species, 2.6-3.3 mm (abdomen extended). Habitus as in Fig. 12 . Coloration: forebody uniformly yellowish red; abdomen dark brown to blackish, with the lateral and posterior tergal margins and the apex more or less extensively rufous; legs pale yellowish; antennae yellowish red.

Head weakly oblong, approximately 1.1 times as long as wide; lateral margins subparallel in dorsal view; puncturation coarse, well-defined, and rather dense, in median dorsal area slightly sparser; microsculpture absent ( Fig. 13 ); eyes small ( Fig. 14 ), weakly projecting from lateral outline of head, postocular region in dorsal view approximately 3 times as long as eyes.

Pronotum approximately 0.90-0.95 times as wide as head and 1.10-1.15 times as long as wide; microsculpture absent; puncturation very dense (except for the impunctate median line) and almost as coarse as that of head ( Fig. 13 ).

Elytra approximately as wide as and at suture about 0.70-0.75 times as long as pronotum; puncturation ill-defined, finer and shallower than that of pronotum; microsculpture shallow ( Fig. 13 ). Hind wings reduced.

Abdomen about 1.15-1.20 times as wide as elytra, widest at segments VI-VII; puncturation moderately dense and fine; microsculpture shallow, but distinct; posterior margin of tergite VII without palisade fringe.

: sternite VII not distinctly modified ( Fig. 15 ); sternite VIII in the middle with fin-like tubercle or carina ( Figs 16-18 ); aedeagus shaped as in Figs 19-23 , internal sac without spines and without flagellum, but with small, weakly sclerotised structure ( Fig. 23 ).

Etymology: The name (Lat., adj.: with fins) alludes to the distinctive shape of the tubercle on the male sternite VIII.

Comparative notes and phylogenetics:

In the keys in ASSING (2005b, 2005c), S. pinniger would key out at couplet 6 together with S. aculeatus ASSING , an endemic from the Boncuk Dağı in Muğla. Based on the similarly derived morphology of the aedeagus and the synapomorphic modifications of the male sternite VIII, both species very close relatives. They are reliably distinguished only by the shape of the process of the male sternite VIII (in S. aculeatus longer, more slender in ventral view, and more erect in lateral view) and by the shape of the aedeagus, especially the ventral process, which is more slender in lateral view and broader in ventral view in S. aculeatus . For illustrations of the male sexual characters of S. aculeatus see Figs 12-19 in ASSING (2005a).

Distribution and bionomics:

The type locality is situated on the peninsula some 80 km to the northwest of Izmir ( Map 1 ). The specimens were found under stones in a calcareous grassland at an altitude of only 440 m ( Fig. 24 ).

Figures

Map 1: Distributions of Sunius bozdagensis (open circle), S. pinniger (large black square), S. fortespinosus (filled circles), S. sexspinosus (open square), and S. pinnatus (small black square) in western Anatolia.

Figs 12-23: Sunius pinniger sp. n.: habitus (12); forebody (13); head in lateral view (14);  sternite VII (15);  sternite VIII (16); fin-like process of  sternite VIII in ventral and in lateral view (17-18); aedeagus in lateral view (19-21); ventral process of aedeagus in ventral view (22); internal structure of aedeagus in ventral view (23). Scale bars: 12: 1.0 mm; 13-14: 0.5 mm; 15-16: 0.2 mm; 17-23: 0.1 mm.

Fig. 24: Type locality of Sunius pinniger sp. n.