Oxypoda (Bessopora) bimontium Assing & Brachat & Meybohm 2019, spec. nov.

Oxypoda (Bessopora) bimontium ASSING spec. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: C38F6606-DE88-4E86-B1E8-AB0921804654

(Figs 44–46)

Type material: Holotype ♀: “GR – Crete [11], NW Dikti Oros, Limnakaro, 35°08'08"N, 25°29'00"E, 1170 m, under stones, 27.III.2012, V. Assing / Holotypus ♀ Oxypoda bimontium sp. n. det. V. Assing 2019” (cAss). Paratypes: 1 ♀: same data as holotype (cAss); 1 ♀: same data, but 30.III.2012 (cAss); 1 ♀: “GR – Crete [28], S Anogia, Psiloritis, 35°14'59"N, 24°53'05"E, 1180 m, under stones, 3.IV.2012, V. Assing ” (cAss); 1 ♀: “GR – Crete [61], WSW Ag. Nikolaos, Katharo plateau, 1110 m, stream, 35°08'14"N, 25°34'15"E, 28.III.2018, V. Assing ” (cAss).

Etymology: The specific epithet is a noun in apposition composed of the Latin prefix bi- (two) and the genitive plural of the Latin noun mons (mountain). It alludes to the fact that this species was collected in two of the major mountain ranges of Crete.

Description: Body length 2.3–2.8 mm; length of forebody 1.1–1.2 mm. Habitus (Fig. 44) rather slender and with nearly parallel lateral margins in dorsal view. Coloration: head black; pronotum and elytra brown to blackish; abdomen blackish; legs dark-yellow; antennae brown to blackish-brown with the basal three antennomeres reddish; maxillary palpi brown to blackish-brown with the apical palpomere paler.

Head (Fig. 45) approximately as broad as long, rather large in relation to pronotum; punctation conspicuously coarse and dense; interstices with shallow microreticulation. Eyes flat, shorter than postocular portion in dorsal view. Antenna short and incrassate apically, approximately 0.6 mm long; antennomeres III weakly oblong, IV moderately transverse, V–X distinctly transverse, of gradually increasing width and increasingly transverse, X nearly twice as broad as long, and XI of conical shape, slightly longer than the combined length of IX and X.

Pronotum (Fig. 45) moderately convex in cross-section, approximately 1.2 times as broad as long and 1.25 times as broad as head; posterior angles marked; punctation very dense and coarse; interstices with shallow microreticulation.

Elytra (Fig. 45) short, approximately 0.65 times as long as pronotum; punctation very dense, coarse, and somewhat confluent. Hind wings vestigial, reduced to short stubs. Metatarsomere I nearly as long as the combined length of II–IV.

Abdomen approximately as broad as elytra; segments III–VI of subequal width; anterior impressions of tergites III–V rather shallow; punctation fine and dense; interstices without microreticulation; posterior margin of tergite VII with narrow rudiment of a palisade fringe.

♂: unknown.

♀: sternite VIII with weakly convex posterior margin, with weakly modified and rather long marginal setae; spermatheca shaped as in Fig. 46.

Comparative notes: Based on external characters, this species is closely allied to Oxypoda brachyptera (STEPHENS, 1832) and related species. It differs from other micropterous species known from Crete (O. cretica ASSING, 2006, O. idana ASSING, 2013) by numerous characters (each of them sufficient for a reliable identification), particularly much darker coloration, a smaller and a much more slender body, significantly shorter antennae, a much narrower pronotum, significantly coarser punctation of the forebody, the presence of a narrow rudiment of a palisade fringe, and by the shape of the spermatheca. It is distinguished from the brachypterous morph of the widespread wing-dimorphic O. lesbia ASSING, 2005 by a larger and broader body, significantly shorter elytra, even coarser punctation of the forebody, darker coloration, less transverse antennomeres V–X (in O. lesbia more than twice as broad as long), longer tarsi and a longer metatarsomere I, and by the shape of the spermatheca. In body shape, body size, and antennal morphology, O. bimontium is somewhat similar to O. afimbriata ASSING, 2006 (Pelopónnisos). It differs from this species by coarser punctation of the forebody, darker coloration of the head, the presence of a narrow palisade fringe at the posterior margin of tergite VII, and by the shape of the spermatheca. For illustrations of O. cretica, O. idana, O. lesbia, and O. afimbriata see ASSING (2005, 2006a, 2013).

Distribution and natural history: The specimens were collected in three localities in the Dikti and Psiloritis ranges at altitudes of 1110–1180 m. Most of them were found under stones near snow; one was floated from gravel on the bank of a stream (most likely an accidental find). The three specimens collected in 2012 were reported as Oxypoda (brachyptera group) sp. by ASSING (2013).