Ochthephilum brevispinosum, Assing, 2009

Assing, V., 2009, On the Western Palaearctic and Middle Asian species of Ochthephilum STEPHENS, with notes on Cryptobium koltzei EPPELSHEIM (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae: Cryptobiina), Linzer biologische Beiträge 41 (1), pp. 397-426 : 408

Ochthephilum brevispinosum nov.sp. (Figs 25, 31-35)

T y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype 3: " Kyrgyzstan, Issyk-Köl , Balykcy, Lake Issyk-Köl, 1.VIII.2003, 42°27'10"N, 76°12'11"E, 1600 m, leg. L. Schmidt / Holotypus 3 Ochthephilum brevispinosum sp.n., det. V. Assing 2008" (cAss).

D e s c r i p t i o n: Body length 5.8 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 31 . Coloration: Body blackish; legs yellowish; antennae dark brown, with segment I yellowish brown.

In external morphology similar to O. collare , but with shorter and posteriorly distinctly widened elytra ( Figs 31-32 ); elytra approximately 0.75 times as long as pronotum.

3: male secondary sexual characters similar to those of O. fracticorne ; sternite VII in the middle with shallow longitudinal impression, this impression with cluster of stout black setae; posterior margin of of sternite VII in the middle concave; posterior margin of tergite VIII simply convex; sternite VIII as in Fig. 33 ; aedeagus relatively small, rather broad in ventral view, and with comparatively short spines in internal sac (Figs 25, 34- 35).

♀: unknown.

E t y m o l o g y: The name (Latin, adjective: with short spines) alludes to the internal structures of the aedeagus.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: In external characters, the new species is indistinguishable from brachypterous O. fracticorne , with which it also shares the similar shape and chaetotaxy of the male tergite VIII. Both species can be reliably distinguished only by the size and shape of the aedeagus ( O. fracticorne : larger and in ventral view more slender) and particularly by the size and shape of the internal structures of the aedeagus ( O. fracticorne : all internal structures much stouter and longer, long apical structure strongly bent). For illustrations of the aedeagus of O. fracticorne see Figs 36-39, as well as ZANETTI (1980) and HOZMAN (1985).

D i s t r i b u t i o n: The type locality is situated near Issyk-köl (=Issyk-kul) lake in northern Kyrgyzstan. In view of its external similarity to O. fracticorne , it does not seem unlikely that previous records of O. fracticorne from Middle Asia in fact refer to this species. This conclusion is also based on the illustration of the aedeagus of O. " fracticorne " from Kazakhstan in KASHCHEEV (1985), which undoubtedly does not refer to O. fracticorne , but bears some resemblance to the aedeagus of O. brevispinosum .

Figures

Figs 31-35: Ochthephilum brevispinosum nov.sp.: (31) habitus; (32) forebody; (33) male sternite VIII; (34) ventral aspect of aedeagus; (35) internal spine clusters of aedeagus. Scale bars: 31-32: 1.0 mm; 33: 0.5 mm; 34-35: 0.2 mm.