Endogean and cavernicolous Coleoptera of the Balkans. XVIII. Strong radiation in caves of the Central Dinarides: seven new species of Thaumastocephalus Poggi et al., 2001 (Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae)
Author
Hlaváč, Peter
Author
Bregović, Petra
Author
Jalžić, Branko
text
Zootaxa
2019
2019-02-19
4559
1
90
110
journal article
28520
10.11646/zootaxa.4559.1.3
becdb1cf-be93-48ca-abc4-898d0f84d0bd
1175-5326
2585159
F051C9DE-CCB7-454E-8184-B6240049F004
Thaumastocephalus kirini
Hlaváč, Bregović & Jalžić
,
sp. n.
(
Figs 2
,
14
)
Etymology.
This species is named after speleologist Alen Kirin, a member of the Croatian Biospeleological Society (CBSS) and collector of the first specimen from the
type
locality.
Material studied.
HOLOTYPE
: Ƌ:
CROATIA
:
Metković
,
Desne
,
Rujnica
, Varda. Jamica u docima (cave),
17.
VI.2015
,
B. Jalžić
lgt. (CNHM).
PARATYPES
(
7♀
):
2♀
: same data as holotype;
4♀
: same data as
holotype
but collected on
30.
IV
.2010 by
A. Kirin
(
CNHM
,
CPH
);
1♀
: same data as holotype but collected on
16.IX.2016
by
B. Jalžić
(
CNHM
)
.
Description.
Body shiny (
Fig. 14
), reddish-brown, covered with dense, uneven setae, with long setae on posterior part of elytra, setae lacking on disc of elytra; legs, antennae and maxillary palpi slightly lighter, length
1.96 mm
, maximum width of elytra
0.68 mm
. Head 1.32 times as long as wide, 0.79 times narrower than pronotum, rostrum 3.00 times as wide as long. Antennae about
0.82 mm
long, scape 2.57 times as long as pedicel, antennomere III slightly longer than IV, antennomeres IV–VII of same length, VIII slightly shorter than VII and as long as IX, antennomere X about as long as VII, terminal antennomere 3.10 times as long as X, relative length of antennomeres: 1.00 / 0.39 / 0.28 / 0.25 / 0.25 / 0.25 / 0.25 / 0.22 / 0.22 / 0.25 / 0.78. Pronotum 1.10 times as long as wide. Elytra 1.22 times as wide as long and 1.40 times as long as pronotum. Abdomen 1.14 times as long as elytra. Legs long, protibiae slightly modified, slightly depressed in apical half, median spine minuscule, mesotibiae simple, metatibiae simple. Aedeagus (
Fig. 2
)
0.49 mm
long, with basal bulb about 1.15 times as long as apical part, right paramere more robust than left, both with three preapical setae, internal sac with one spiral structure, dorsal diaphragm present.
Sexual dimorphism.
Females lacking modification of protibiae.
Differential diagnosis.
T. kirini
is readily separated from all other known species of the genus by: 1) frontal tibiae at most with minuscule tooth, 2) body length under
2 mm
, 3) terminal antennomere short, less than 4 times as long as antenommere X, 4) elytra long, more than 1.3 times as long as pronotum, and 5) short rostrum which is about 3 times as wide as long.
Distribution and habitat.
T. kirini
is known only from the cave Jamica u docima (
Figs 13, 15
), situated at
345 m
a.s.l. near peak Varda (
517 m
) and village Desne (
Fig. 30
, violet star). The cave is a vertical shaft,
10.2 m
deep and
5 m
long. The air temperature measured in the cave on
30th April 2010
was 10.1 °C and the relative humidity was 98 %. The following fauna is also recorded from the cave: Isopoda—
Alpioniscus verheoffi
(Strouhal, 1938)
as noted by
Bedek
et al
. 2011
; Coleoptera—
Neotrechus
sp.,
Speonesiotes
sp. (det. B. Jalžić), and
Bryaxis scapularis
(Reitter, 1881)
as noted by Bekchiev and
Hlaváč (2016)
.