Oxypoda (Bessopora) aydinica, Assing, Volker, 2007

Assing, Volker, 2007, On the Oxypoda species of Turkey and adjacent regions. II. Three new species, additional records, and a checklist (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae, Aleocharinae), Zootaxa 1411, pp. 1-24 : 10-11

Oxypoda (Bessopora) aydinica sp. n.

( Figs. 2 , 21–31 )

Type material. Holotype ɗ: " TR [13] - Aydın, 20 km NE Kuyucak, Bayrak Tepe, 1480 m, 38°00’09”N, 28°34’53”E, 7.IV.2006, V. Assing / Holotypus #m Oxypoda aydinica sp. n. det. V. Assing 2006" (cAss).

Description. Body length 2.9 mm (abdomen fully extended). Habitus as in Fig. 21 . Coloration: head brown; pronotum and elytra pale reddish brown (somewhat paler than head); abdomen pale reddish brown, with the anterior 3/4 of segment VI and the anterior 2/3 of segment VII infuscate; legs and maxillary palpi yellowish; antennae yellowish brown.

Head indistinctly transverse and of suborbicular shape, approximately 1.05 times as wide as long; puncturation fine, shallow, and dense; microsculpture very shallow; pubescence yellowish, short, and depressed; eyes rather small ( Fig. 23 ), approximately half the length of postocular region in dorsal view, not distinctly protruding from lateral contours of head ( Fig. 22 ). Antenna rather long and massive in relation to body, gradually and weakly incrassate apically; antennomeres I and II of subequal length; III distinctly shorter than II, about 1.5 times as long as wide; IV distinctly transverse, approximately 1.5 times as wide as long; V–X of gradually increasing width, but of similar shape, on average approximately 1.5 times as wide as long; XI elongate, longer than the combined length of IX–X, almost as long as the combined length of VIII–X ( Fig. 24 ). Maxillary palpus moderately slender, palpomere III approximately 2.5 times as long as wide.

Pronotum approximately 1.35 times as wide as head and 1.35 times as wide as long; maximal width in the middle; lateral margins moderately convex in dorsal view; posterior margin as wide as anterior margin ( Fig. 22 ); puncturation dense and distinct, somewhat rasp-like; microsculpture indistinct; pubescence similar to that of head.

Elytra as wide as pronotum and at suture about 0.7 times as long as pronotum; posterior margin near posterior angles distinctly sinuate; puncturation similar to that of pronotum, but somewhat more distinct ( Fig. 22 ); microsculpture and pubescence similar to those of pronotum. Hind wings reduced. Legs moderately slen- der; metatarsomere I longer than the combined length of II–III, not quite as long as the combined length of II– IV.

Abdomen slightly narrower than elytra and of subparallel shape, segments III–VI of subequal width; puncturation fine and moderately dense, somewhat denser on tergite III than on posterior tergites ( Fig. 25 ); interstices without appreciable microsculpture; posterior margin of tergite VII without palisade fringe; posterior margin of tergite VIII broadly convex.

ɗ: posterior margin of sternite VIII distinctly convex, but not pointed in the middle; median lobe of aedeagus as in Figs. 26–29 , ventral process not incised apically ( Fig. 29 ), at base with distinct pair of lateral carinae best seen in lateral view; apical lobe of paramere moderately long, with one minute apical and with three long basal and subapical setae ( Fig. 30 ).

Ψ: unknown.

Comparative notes. Based on its external morphology (shape of antennae, puncturation of forebody, shape of abdomen), as well as on the male primary and secondary sexual characters (convex posterior margin of sternite VIII, median lobe of aedeagus with pair of lateral carinae at the base of ventral process, internal structures, pronounced crista apicalis and crista proximalis of median lobe, apically unincised ventral process, shape and chaetotaxy of paramere), O. aydinica is closely related to O. ahirica Assing from Kahramanmaraş and O. praecisa Assing from Greece. From both species, it is distinguished by longer and more massive antennae, larger body size, a larger and more distinctly punctate pronotum, from O. ahirica additionally by shorter elytra (in relation to pronotum), shorter rudiments of the hind wings, longer metatarsi, slighty sparser and more distinct abdominal puncturation, the absence of a palisade fringe at the posterior margin of tergite VII, as well as by a slightly larger aedeagus with a less pronounced crista apicalis, and from O. praecisa by less glossy appearance of the forebody due to denser and more distinct puncturation and by the longer ventral process of the aedeagus in relation to the basal capsule. From the similarly coloured O. lesbia , which, too, occurs in western Anatolia, the new species is distinguished by larger body size, distinctly longer and more massive antennae, coarser puncturation of the head and pronotum, smaller eyes, a broader pronotum, shorter hind wing rudiments, the absence of a palisade fringe at the posterior margin of tergite VII, and the different male sexual characters (apically unincised median lobe, more pronounced crista apicalis, different internal structures, and a much shorter apical lobe of the paramere with different chaetotaxy). For illustrations of the external and sexual characters of O. ahirica , O. praecisa , and O. lesbia see Assing (2006a, 2006c).

Etymology. The name (adjective) is derived from Aydın, the province where the type locality is situated.

Distribution and bionomics. The type locality is situated in the Bayrak Tepe near Kuyucak in Aydın province, western Anatolia ( Fig. 2 ). The holotype was sifted from grass roots on a stony north slope at an altitude of 1480 m ( Fig. 31 ).

Figures

FIGURE 2. Distributions of Oxypoda abdominalis (Mannerheim) (filled circles) and O. aydinica, sp. n. (open circle) in Turkey.

FIGURE 31. Type locality of Oxypoda aydinica sp. n. (photo: P. Wunderle).

FIGURES 21 – 30. Oxypoda aydinica sp. n.: 21 — habitus; 22 — forebody; 23 — head in lateral view; 24 — antenna; 25 — abdomen; 26 – 27 — median lobe of aedeagus in lateral and in ventral view; 28 – 29 — apex of median lobe in ventral view; 30 — apical lobe of paramere. Scale bars: 21: 1.0 mm; 22, 25: 0.5 mm; 23 – 24: 0.2 mm; 26 – 30: 0.1 mm.