Protamaurops bulgaricus, Bekchiev & Hlaváč, 2020

Bekchiev, Rostislav & Hlaváč, Peter, 2020, Endogean and Cavernicolous Coleoptera of the Balkans. XX. Notes on the genus Protamaurops J. Müller, 1944 (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae) with the description of a new species from Bulgaria, Zootaxa 4779 (3), pp. 367-378 : 372-373

Protamaurops bulgaricus sp. n.

Figs 1c , 4e , 5

Type material examined: Holotype, ♂: Bulgaria, Rhodopes Mts. , Bachkovo, leg. Machulka ( MHNG) ; Paratypes: 2♂♂: the same data as holotype ( NMNHS, PCVB) .

Description: Body slightly shiny, reddish-brown, densely pubescent, covered with long golden setae; legs, antennae and maxillary palpi slightly lighter, length: 2.26–2.31 mm; elytra width 0.66–0.68 mm.

Head ( Fig. 1c ) about 1.10 times as long as wide, eyes composed of four or five ommatidia located above robust ocular spine; clypeus large, rounded; frons with large, deep, triangular excavation that is slightly prolonged ante- riorly and forming angle at apex; vertex elevated, forming large hump with one well-defined, long medial carina remote from margin of frontal excavation and extending two-thirds of head length, and two short, oblique carinae on each side of the medial carinae ( Fig. 1c ); vertexal pits separated, distant from lateral margin of head; surface between carinae almost glabrous.

Antennae relatively long, 1.08–1.09 mm, scape cylindrical, about 1.12 times as long as wide, pedicel 1.5 times as long as wide, antennomeres III–IV twice as long as wide, V 2.2 times as long as wide, VI-VII 1.6 times as long as wide, VIII as long as wide, IX trapezoidal, as wide as long, antennomere X also trapezoidal, 1.25 times as wide as long, terminal antennomere, triangular, about 2.2 times as long as wide.

Pronotum slightly longer than wide, about 1.15 times as long as wide, as long as head, with deep median longitudinal excavation; lateral carinae long and prominent, with large triangular dent in the basal part, median antebasal and lateral foveae well-defined.

Elytra simple, wider than long, at sides round, widest in middle.

Abdomen slightly narrower than elytra, first visible tergite (IV) large, distance between lateral carinae and median carina 0.16 mm; distance between median carinae 0.16 mm.

Legs long and slender, simple, metatrochanters with one small medium, ventral spine.

Aedeagus ( Fig. 3e ) 0.36-0.37 mm long.

Sexual dimorphism. Females unknown.

Differential diagnosis. P. bulgaricus differs from all other congeners by the presence of three carinae on the head, and the shape of the aedeagus. The new species is closely related to P. dentatithorax by the proportions of antennomeres VIII and IX, both slightly wider than long and by the presence of lateral, oblique carinae on the head. They can be readily separated by the lateral carinae on head which is short in P. bulgaricus , and long in P. dentatithorax , and by the different shape of the aedeagus.

Distribution: Bulgaria (Western Rhodopes).

Etymology: Named after Bulgaria, the country of the type locality.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Habitus and head of Protamaurops—a) P. macrophthalmus (male), scale—1 mm; b) head with the carina, scale— 0.5 mm; c) P. bulgaricus sp. n., head with the carinae (male, holotype), scale—0.5 mm.

FIGURE 3. Aedeagi of Protamamaurops, ventral view (Scale: 0.1 mm)—a, b) P. macedonicus—a. Bos Dag Mts., b—Belasitsa Mts; c) P. macrophthalmus; d) P. winneguthi; e) P. bulgaricus sp. n. Scale: 0.1 mm

FIGURE 4. Habitat of Protamaurops macedonicus (Belasitsa Mts., Bulgaria).

FIGURE 5. Distribution of Protamaurops.