Morphological study describes two new Entomoculiini species from Kérkyra

A morphological taxonomic study describes two new species of minute, soil-dwelling rove beetles in the tribe Entomoculiini from the Greek island of Kérkyra: Entomoculia (Entomoculia) cassiopaea and Allotyphlus (Allotyphlus) pavesii. The second species is named for Maurizio Pavesi, who collected the specimens and formerly curated the entomological collections of the Museo di Storia Naturale in Milan.

Both species are known from a single coastal locality about 2 km west of Kassiopi on Apraos Bay, where they were collected by soil washing between 1996 and 1999. The site lies at an elevation of 10 metres in Mediterranean maquis with abundant Quercus ilex. Its calcareous soil contains exposed rocky layers, with clayey and gritty material in cavities and crevices beneath leaf litter and humus. Sampling reached depths of up to 60 cm.

The study examined specimens on temporary slides in glycerine under a Reichert Microstar IV compound microscope at magnifications up to 400 times. Images were captured with a Nikon Coolpix S6900 attached to the microscope ocular and stacked with Zerene Stacker 1.04. Measurements used a micrometric ocular at 200× and 400×, with stated sensitivities of ±0.0047 mm and ±0.0025 mm, respectively. Specimens were prepared dry on mounting board or in DMHF on acetate microslides after clarification in 10% potassium hydroxide, while dissected genitalia and other structures were mounted in DMHF.

Leptotyphlinae are generally small, approximately 1–2 mm, with slender, parallel-sided bodies, reduced wings, absent eyes and no body pigmentation. They occur across several world regions and depend strongly on undisturbed soil; their limited dispersal is associated with a high level of endemism, although the parthenogenetic Gynotyphlus perpusillus is widespread in the Mediterranean. The source reports 613 valid species in 47 genera, including 51 species in 13 genera known from the Balkan Peninsula. Entomoculiini, a tribe distinguished by a deep transverse sulcus on at least the fifth visible sternite and an enlarged second maxillary palpomere, is restricted to the Mediterranean Basin and Canary Islands.

Entomoculia cassiopaea is completely depigmented and approximately 1.6 mm long. Its name refers to the type locality, Kassiopi. Diagnostic features include 10 antennomeres, a bidentate labrum, trimerous tarsi and a second maxillary palpomere about twice as wide as the third. The male aedeagus is about 0.20 mm long and has a short, slender ventral lamina without setae, symmetric parameres and a median-lobe capsule whose distal margin reaches the apex of the parameres. The female’s visible sternite 5 has a sharply triangular posterior margin.

The authors describe the generic placement of E. cassiopaea as debatable. Its antennal count, bidentate labrum and lack of setae on the aedeagus’s ventral lamina are consistent with Entomoculia, although antennomere number varies within the related genus Cyrtotyphlus. Its pentagonal gular-suture configuration resembles Allotyphlus, and the aedeagus differs from the typical Entomoculia form in its symmetric, uniformly arched parameres, relatively straight narrow ventral lamina and median-lobe capsule reaching the parameres’ apex. On these grounds, the authors interpret it as an archaic Entomoculia representative retaining some Allotyphlus characteristics. The Kérkyra locality is described as the easternmost known for the genus and constitutes the first recorded occurrence of Entomoculia in the Balkan Peninsula.

Allotyphlus pavesii is also completely depigmented and approximately 1.75 mm long. It has 11 antennomeres, a monodentate labrum and an aedeagus about 0.28 mm long. The strongly chitinised aedeagus has a long, curved ventral lamina ending in a hook and bearing two ventral setae, while the short parameres each carry four distal setae. The species shares its overall aedeagal structure with five previously described Allotyphlus species from Kérkyra but differs in sexual characters of both sexes, including the shorter ventral lamina and distinctive hook-shaped apex. It is the only Allotyphlus species known from the island north of Mount Pantokrator.

Repeated surveys at the shared locality also recovered other endogean beetles, including Typhloiulopsis pavesii, Reicheadella corcyrea, Prioniomus cassiopaeus, an unidentified Gynotyphlus species and additional Curculionidae and Carabidae under study. The known distributions of both new species remain restricted to the type locality, and the study’s identification of E. cassiopaea includes acknowledged uncertainty about its generic placement. The authors view the findings as evidence that additional diversity remains to be discovered in the Balkan endogean fauna and conclude that an integrative revision incorporating molecular data is needed to clarify the boundaries of Entomoculiini genera and subgenera.

Subject of Research: Morphological description of two new Entomoculiini rove beetle species from Kérkyra, Greece

Article Title: Two new species of Entomoculiini ( Coleoptera , Staphylinidae , Leptotyphlinae ) from Kérkyra, Greece

Article References: Violi, M. (2026). Two new species of Entomoculiini (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Leptotyphlinae) from Kérkyra, Greece. Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift, 73(1), 31-36. https://doi.org/10.3897/dez.73.176451

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.3897/dez.73.176451

Keywords: Entomoculiini, Kérkyra, Greece, rove beetles, Leptotyphlinae, Entomoculia cassiopaea, Allotyphlus pavesii, taxonomic morphology, subterranean fauna, species description, species, Coleoptera