Anomognathus athabascensis Klimaszewski, Hammond & Langor

Klimaszewski, Jan, Langor, David W., Hammond, H. E. James & Bourdon, Caroline, 2016, A new species of Anomognathus and new Canadian and provincial records of aleocharine rove beetles from Alberta, Canada (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Aleocharinae), ZooKeys 581, pp. 141-164 : 150

Taxon classification Animalia Coleoptera Staphylinidae

Anomognathus athabascensis Klimaszewski, Hammond & Langor sp. n. Figs 34-40

Holotype

(male). Canada, Alberta, Athabasca, 19 km N Calling Lake, 55.3046°N, 113.4848°W, Hammond window-trap, H-95-2-6 (CL), 1997.06.23 (NoFC). Paratypes. Canada, Alberta, Athabasca, 19 km N Calling Lake, 55.3046°N, 113.4848°W, Hammond window-trap, H-95-2-3 (CL), 1997.06.23 (LFC, NoFC) 1 female; Canada, Alberta, Athabasca, 19 km N Calling Lake, 55.3046°N, 113.4848°W, Hammond window-trap, H-95-2-3 (CL), 1997.07.09 (NoFC) 1 female.

Etymology.

Athabascensis is a Latin adjective derived from the name of the Athabasca region in Alberta, where the type series was discovered.

Diagnosis.

Body length 2.5-2.7 mm; narrow and flat (Fig. 34); more or less uniformly dark brown or reddish-brown with darker head and abdomen, with legs reddish-brown, moderately densely punctate and pubescent, pubescence short and adhering to the body, integument with dense meshed microsculpture, denser on forebody, sculpticells hexagonal, and punctation asperate on forebody; head large, rounded posteriorly and with postocular area strongly converging basally (Fig. 34), slightly wider and longer than pronotum, with small eyes shorter than postocular area; antennae with articles I-III elongate and IV-X subquadrate to slightly transverse (Fig. 34); pronotum about trapezoidal in shape, narrowest at base, widening apically to about apical third and then narrowed apically, slightly transverse, much narrower at base than elytra (Fig. 34); elytra flattened, longer than pronotum, with strong angular shoulders (Fig. 34); abdomen narrow and subparallel, paratergites well developed (Fig. 34). MALE. Median lobe of aedeagus with tubus strongly produced ventrally in lateral view (Fig. 35); internal sac without distinct sclerites (Fig. 35); tergite VIII truncate apically with three pairs of dorsal teeth and narrow median lobe (Fig. 36); sternite VIII wide, broadly rounded apically (Fig. 37). FEMALE. Tergite VIII truncate apically, with two large and hooked apically lateral teeth and some crenulation on apical margin (Fig. 38); sternite VIII rounded apically and with broad space between base of the disc and antecostal suture (Fig. 39); spermatheca with small spherical capsule and narrow and short stem (Fig. 40).

This species is readily distinguishable from Anomognathus americanus Casey, the only other representative of this genus in North America (Figs 41-44), by the different body proportions (Fig. 34), head large, longer and wider than pronotum (Fig. 34), and differently shaped tergite VIII of female (male of Anomognathus americanus is unknown), with two large and hooked apically lateral teeth (Fig. 38), while in Anomognathus americanus tergite VIII has two lateral teeth and one long median spine (Fig. 42).

Distribution.

Known only from Alberta, Canada.

Natural history.

This species was captured in June and July in Alberta. This is a subcortical species whose life history remains unknown. It is most likely associated with galleries of wood boring insects.