Omphreus ( Elladomphreus ) eggeri, Monzini & Sciaky, 2025

Omphreus ( Elladomphreus) eggeri n. sp.

(Figs 1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 18) urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:

Type locality: Greece , Peloponnese, M. Panachaiko, Kalanistra .

Type series: Holotypus ♂: [ Greece :] GR. Peloponnes / Panachaikogeb. / Kalanistra V.2014, leg. Manfred Egger ( CM) ; Paratypi: ibidem, 1 ♂, 1 ♀, 2.V.2014 ( CE, CM) ; ibidem, 6 ♂, 20.IV, 2.V.2014 ( CE, CS) ; ibidem, 2 ♂, IV.2015 ( CE) ; ibidem, 1 ♂, V.2015 ( CM) ; ibidem, 1 ♂, 3.V.2022, ( CE) ; ibidem, 1 ♂, IV.2023 ( CE) ; ibidem, 1 ♂, V.2023 ( CE) .

Etymology. We are glad to dedicate this new species to our colleague and friend Manfred Egger, tireless researcher of Carabidae in the Balkan Peninsula and in many other places.

Diagnosis. Size medium ( 20 - 24 mm); body very elongated and slender, integuments black, palps and tarsi brownish; head oblong, with reduced and flattened eyes, mandibles sickle-shaped, rather elongated but significantly less than in O. krueperi , labrum slightly concave, while it is convex in the two other species. Pronotum longer than wide, less elongated and parallel than in the other two Greek species, with sides slightly sinuate towards base, narrower at the base than at the apex with prominent anterior angles and sub-angular posterior angles, with 6-8 setae at the sides. This characteristic is also found in the Turkish species, while in O. krueperi there are 3-4 setae and in O. aetolicus there are only 2 setae on each side. Elytra narrow and subparallel with smooth and deep striae, intervals flat, humeral angles marked and curved upwards, elytral apex widely rounded. Elytra with two setigerous pores near the base of stria 6, several pores on interval 7, occasionally some points also on striae 3 and 5. Legs slender, very elongated, tarsi brownish. Male genitalia: median lobe of aedeagus rather elongated, with short base and elongated median portion, curved and slightly dilated, the apex in dorsal view is rounded.

Description. Size medium: 20 - 24 mm ( Holotype: 21 mm) from apex of mandibles to elytral apex; this size is smaller than in O. krueperi ( 23 - 28 mm), but larger than O. aetolicus , (16.5 - 18 mm); body very elongated (Figs 1, 18), completely black, shining on head and pronotum, duller on elytra due to a fine microreticulation. Palpi and tarsi brownish, antennae black.

Head elongated (Fig. 5), with a transverse sulcus behind the eyes, that are reduced and flat, much more so than in the two other species of the subgenus; mandibles falciform, very elongated, labrum slightly concave at middle, with 4 setae. Antennae elongated, posteriorly passing the middle of the elytral length; antennomere 1 as long as the following two and a half, slightly dilated in the distal third, with 5-6 long setae; antennomeres 2-3 with some long setae, the following densely pubescent.

Pronotum elongated (Fig. 5), length/width ratio = 1,25, slightly narrower at base, with deep median sulcus. Sides slightly sinuate, with fore angles prominent and basal angles subangulate; epipleurae visible from above. Basal pits impunctate, rather deep at base, more superficial at middle and at apex. Lateral margins with 6 setigerous pores almost at same distance from each other; the marginal channel well marked all along, and continues along the first part of the base as well; central part of base unmargined.

Elytra very narrow, subparallel (Fig. 9), length/width ratio = 1,91 The maximum width is almost at the middle; striae deep, smooth and complete up to the elytral apex; humeral angles well marked, the basal margin evident and forming an acute angle with the lateral margin; elytral apex widely rounded. Frequently the striae are confluent with each other, almost in one over three specimens. Scutellar pore-puncture present, interval 7 with 2-3 pore-punctures in the anterior third, adjacent to stria 6, then with 3-5 pore-punctures usually in the middle of the interval, variously distributed in the remaining part of the interval. Sometimes there are pore-punctures varying in number also in intervals 3 and 5.

Legs elongated but robust, slightly shorter than in O. krueperi but longer than in O. aetolicus ; tarsi dark brown, superiorly not furrowed, onychium inferiorly with two rows of short bristles, nails smooth. Tarsi slightly thinner than in the two other species of the subgenus.

Genitalia: median lobe of aedeagus (Fig. 13) rather small, in lateral view curved at obtuse angle and with short and pointed tip almost rectilinear; in dorsal view with long ostium, very narrow apical lamella and broadly rounded apex, slightly more than in the other two species of the subgenus. Right paramere wide and flattened, the left one thinner. Gonapophyses of females rather short and robust, with sub-acute apex (Fig. 17)

Ecological notes. The specimens of the new species were all collected in a single Greek locality near Kalanistra on the Oros Panakhaiko, a mountain range located in Achaea, the northern part of the Peloponnese, which reaches almost 2000 m a.s.l. and which overlooks the entrance to the Gulf of Corinth. The findings were possible by means of baits bur- ied in a medium-altitude forest environment, at the base of well-cracked limestone walls and among the clastic debris ( Fig. 19). The captures took place on various dates ranging from April 2014 to May 2023; unfortunately, this biotope is now completely destroyed by excavation works for the recent construction of a new road ( Fig. 20). Omphreus eggeri was collected in association with other species of endemic, infra- and sub-lapidicolous Carabidae such as Elladopterus sp. (Giachino & Vailati, in press), Molops spartanus chelmosensis Maran, 1940 and also other strictly endogean and subterranean species such as Elasmopterus eggeri Giachino, Allegro & Vailati, 2024 ( Giachino et al. 2024).

The Panachaiko (Greek: Παναχαϊκό), also known with the ancient name of Vodias (Βοδιάς), is a mountain range in Achaea, Peloponnese, Greece . It spans about 20 km in length from north to south, and 15–20 km from east to west. It is the northernmost mountain range in the Peloponnese.