(Figs. 7–8, 24–25, 36)

Holotype male (Figs. 7–8). /ALA: Butler Co., Greenville Oct. 23. 1977 / Under rocks leg: T. King/ Arianops ashei Carlton, 2007 Holotype male/. Type deposition, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL.

Etymology. This species is named for the late James ‘‘Steve’’ Ashe to honor his contributions to the systematics of staphylinid beetles.

Description. Holotype male. Measurements (in mm): head 0.50 long, 0.55 wide; pronotum 0.60 long, 0.50 wide; elytra 0.65 long, 0.75 wide; median lengths of visible abdominal tergites 1–5, respectively 0.50, 0.10, 0.10, 0.25, 0.10. Antennomeres 1–11, respectively 0.10, 0.10, 0.08, 0.08, 0.08, 0.08, 0.08, 0.06, 0.07, 0.07, 0.20. Aedeagus 0.30 long, 0.25 wide. Total length 2.70.

Head (Fig. 24). Lateral vertexal carinae absent. Median occipital carina welldeveloped, almost reaching cervical constriction. Vertexal foveae normally developed, nude, connected via u-shaped circumambient sulcus that is weak posteriorly, becoming broadly concave between antennal tubercles. Carinae to antennal tubercles extending to clypeus; clypeus weakly carinate medially. Posterior arms of inter-antennal ridge well-developed, subcarinate. Labral margin bearing four teeth. Lateral carinae from clypeus to ocular spines well-developed. Ocular spine prominent, triangularly acute, oriented laterally. Mentum not toothed.

Pronotum. Shallow basomedian fovea present, submedian spines and bumps absent, but low tumosity present from basomedian fovea to base. Three pairs of basolateral foveoid depressions present, two near basolateral margin and one more anterior and lateral. Pronotum weakly transversely rugose along basolateral margin, including basomedian tumosity.

Elytra. Basal margin of each elytron straight to humeral declivity. Basal depressions and foveae absent.

Legs. Unmodified.

Abdomen. Dorsally weakly rounded, evenly, gently declivous at tergite 4. Visible ventrite 3 with a median spine along margin (Fig. 25). Ventrite 6 broadly concave.

Aedeagus (Fig. 36). Ventral shelf simple and almost symmetrical, weakly, evenly emarginate across apical margin, bearing a long seta on left side of dorsal 310 face, another on right apical margin, and four shorter setae in a transverse row on dorsal face offset to right of midline. Phallobase lacking internal processes.

Female. Unknown.

Material examined. Only the holotype is known.

Distribution. The species is only known from the type locality in Butler County, Alabama.

Comments. External characters of A. ashei are consistent with Barr’s (1974) cavernensis species group. It is similar to A. folkertsi, and these two species are the only members of the group having well-developed occipital carinae. The aedeagus of A. ashei is similar to that of A. kingi Barr and A. barri n. sp. in its simplicity and the general shape of the ventral shelf, but all have differences in shapes of the lateral angles of the shelf, arrangement of setae, and details of symmetry. These species and A. extera Barr share a simple aedeagal structure lacking internal sac sclerites, processes of the basal bulb wall, spines or other processes of the apical shelf, and possessing a broad, slightly to prominently asymmetrically quadrate shelf. This combination of characters separates them from all others within the cavernensis species group and genus and suggests common ancestry.