Cypha kirghisica, Assing, 2008

Assing, V., 2008, A new species of Cypha LEACH and the first record of Bolitochara sogdiana GUSAROV from Kyrgyzstan (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae), Linzer biologische Beiträge 40 (1), pp. 231-234 : 231-233

Cypha kirghisica nov.sp. ( Figs 1-6 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype Ƌ: Kirghizia: Kichik Alai, Kara-Goy, 2400 m, 21.- 22.5.1993, leg. Schawaller / Holotypus Ƌ Cypha kirghisica sp. n. det. V. Assing 2007 (SMNS). Paratype Ƌ: same data as holotype (cAss).

D e s c r i p t i o n: 1.7-1.8 mm; length from head to posterior margin of elytra: 0.80- 0.85 mm; width of pronotum: 0.70-0.72 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 1 . Coloration: Head and pronotum blackish brown to blackish, with the pronotal margin yellowish; elytra pale reddish; abdomen blackish brown, with the apex (segments VII-X) yellowish; legs and antennae yellowish.

Head strongly transverse; puncturation extremely fine, barely noticeable; eyes moder-

ately large, more than twice as long as postocular region in dorsal view. Antennae slen- der ( Fig. 2 ), with distinct club formed by antennomeres VIII-X; antennomeres VIII and IX almost twice as long as wide; X approximately 3 times as long as wide and as long as the combined length of VIII and IX.

Pronotum approximately 1.85 times as wide as long and 1.50 times as wide as head; puncturation as fine as that of head; microsculpture absent or extremely shallow, barely noticeable.

Elytra slightly wider than and at suture almost as long as pronotum; puncturation fine and rather sparse; microsculpture very shallow. Hind wings (fully?) developed. Protarsomere I evidently with sexual dimorphism, in Ƌ enlarged, almost as long as the combined length of the following tarsomeres. Metatarsomere I almost as long as the combined length of the apical tarsomeres.

Abdomen with extremely fine puncturation; microsculpture very fine and shallow; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe.

Ƌ: posterior margin of tergite VIII truncate ( Fig. 3 ); posterior margin of sternite VIII moderately produced in the middle; median lobe of aedeagus as in Figs 4-6.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: In external and sexual characters, C. kirghisica is most similar to C. suecica, but distinguished from this species by slightly more slender body (pronotal width in C. suecica: 0.75-0.80 mm), the uniformly reddish elytra (in C. suecica anteriorly and laterally more or less distinctly infuscated), and by the different morphology of the median lobe of the aedeagus. For illustrations of the habitus and the male sexual characters of C. suecica see ASSING (2004a).

From the other two congeners recorded from Middle Asia, the new species is distinguished as follows:

from C. ovulum by distinctly larger size (C. ovulum: 0.5-0.8 mm), completely different coloration (C. ovulum: legs and antennae brown to blackish; elytra blackish), and an aedeagus of completely different morphology (C. ovulum: much broader, shorter, and less slender);

from C. rubicunda, which was described from "Turkmenien" ( REITTER 1887) and whose sexual characters are unknown, by smaller size (C. rubicunda: 1.7-2.0 mm), the darker coloration of the head, pronotum, and abdomen (C. rubicunda: whole body reddish, except for the castaneous base of the abdomen), and by the shorter antennae (C. rubicunda: almost as long as body, according to the original description).

E t y m o l o g y: The name (adjective) is derived from Kirghisia (= Kyrgyzstan).

D i s t r i b u t i o n a n d b i o n o m i c s: The type locality, Karagoy (40°04'N, 72°35'E], is situated in southwestern Kyrgyzstan. The type specimens were collected at an altitude of 2400 m.

Figures

Figs 1-6: Cypha kirghisica nov.sp.: (1) habitus; (2) antenna; (3) male tergite VIII; (4-5) median lobe of aedeagus of holotype (4) and paratype (5) in lateral view; (6) apical part of ventral process of aedeagus in ventral view. Scale bars: 1: 1.0 mm; 2-6: 0.1 mm.