Oxypoda flavissima, Assing, 2008

Assing, V., 2008, Nine new species and additional records of Staphylinidae from southern Spain, with new synonymies (Insecta: Coleoptera), Linzer biologische Beiträge 40 (2), pp. 1301-1325 : 1316-1317

Oxypoda flavissima nov.sp. ( Figs 40-48 , Map 3 )

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype: "E - Jaén , Alcaudete, Sierra del Ahillo, 29.XII.2006, leg. M. Baena / Holotypus Oxypoda flavissima sp.n. det. V. Assing 2008" (cAss) . Paratypes: 1: "36 Marruecos 60598, Lartamna , afl. Oued Larbaa [ca. 34°14'N, 03°59'W; without further data]" (cAss); 1: " P. Madeira, 700 m, Roseiro [recte: Rosario], 28, 5.IV.1993, Assing " (cAss); 1: " Madeira, Achada do Teixeira, 1350 m, 06.04.93, Wunderle " (cWun) .

D e s c r i p t i o n: Body length 2.9-3.4 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 40 . Coloration distinctive: whole body, except eyes, uniformly yellowish; middle of abdominal tergite VI occasionally weakly infuscate.

Head ( Figs 41, 43 ) approximately 1.1 times as wide as long; punctation rather dense and very fine, barely distinguishable from the pronounced microreticulation; pubescence short, whitish, and decumbent; eyes moderately small, approximately 0.6-0.7 times as long as postocular region in dorsal view. Maxillary palpi with penultimate palpomere 3- 3.5 times as long as broad. Antennae gradually incrassate apically; antennomere IV weakly transverse; X approximately 1.5 times as wide as long; XI approximately as long as the combined length of IX and X ( Fig. 42 ).

Pronotum ( Fig. 41 ) approximately 1.25 times as wide as long and 1.35 times as wide as head, widest slightly behind middle; posterior angles weakly marked; punctation dense, shallow, fine, and partly somewhat ill-defined, but slightly more distinct than that of head; interstices on average narrower than diameter of punctures and with distinct microreticulation; pubescence whitish, short, and decumbent.

Elytra approximately 0.9 times as long and 1.15 times as wide as pronotum ( Fig. 41 ); punctation dense, weakly granulose, and somewhat more distinct than that of pronotum; interstices on average narrower than diameter of punctures and with shallow microsculpture; pubescence similar to that of pronotum. Hind wings apparently fully developed. Metatarsomere I somewhat longer than the combined length of II-III, but shorter than the combined length of II-IV.

Abdomen with lateral margins of segments III-VI subparallel, segments VII-IX tapering posteriad; punctation moderately dense and extremely fine, barely distinguishable from the distinct microreticulation; posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe; tergite VIII without evident sexual dimorphism ( Fig. 46 ).

: posterior margin of sternite VIII strongly convex, but not distinctly pointed in the middle; median lobe of aedeagus with distinctive internal structures ( Fig. 44 ); paramere with rather short apical lobe ( Fig. 45 ).

: posterior margin of sternite VIII moderately convex, in the middle not concave, and with moderately stout marginal setae ( Fig. 47 ); spermatheca as in Fig. 48.

E t y m o l o g y: The name (Latin, superlative of the adjective flava: yellow) refers to the conspicuously yellowish coloration of the body.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Its external characters would place O. flavissima either in the subgenus Sphenoma or in Bessopora. It is readily distinguished from all the Western Palaearctic species currently attributed to either of these subgenera by the conspicuous coloration and by the shape of the aedeagus.

D i s t r i b u t i o n a n d b i o n o m i c s: Thefourtypespecimenswerefound in one locality in Spain, two localities in Madeira, and one locality in Morocco, suggesting that it is widespread in the Western Mediterranean and the Atlantic islands, and that the habitat is cryptic. The Madeiran specimens were collected in April by sifting the litter in an old stand of Erica arborea at an altitude of 1350 m and by floating moist grass and moss in a dark stream valley at an altitude of 700 m, respectively.

Figures

Map 3: Distribution of Oxypoda flavissima nov.sp.

Figs 40-48: Oxypoda flavissima nov.sp.: (40) habitus; (41) forebody; (42) antenna; (43) head in lateral view; (44) median lobe of aedeagus in lateral view; (45) paramere; (46) female tergite VIII; (47) female sternite VIII; (48) spermatheca. Scale bars: 40: 1.0 mm; 41: 0.5 mm; 42-43, 46-47: 0.2 mm; 44-45, 48: 0.1 mm.