On the taxonomy and zoogeography of the Caucasian genus Pseudo­ typhlopasilia (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae). IV. Two new species and additional records from Northwest Georgia

Two field trips to Northwest Georgia conducted in 2021 yielded 29 specimens of the Caucasian genus Pseudotyphlopasilia Pace, 1983, most of them collected by soil-washing. The material belongs to five species, two of them described and three of them unnamed. Two of the unnamed species are described and illustrated: P. confusa spec. nov. (Racha: environs of Lailashi) and P. egrisica spec. nov. (Zemo Svaneti: Egrisi Range). One species remains unnamed for want of males. Additional records are provided for two previously described species, including Pseudotyphlopasilia coeca (Eppelsheim, 1878) (type species of the genus) of which only few and mostly old specimens were previously available. New illustrations are provided for P. coeca and P. acris Assing, 2021. The genus currently contains a total of twelve named species, all of them anophthalmous and micropterous, with eleven of them distributed in Georgia and one in the Russian West Caucasus. The distributions of five species are mapped.

Body length was measured from the anterior margin of the labrum to the posterior margin of tergite VIII, the length of the forebody from the anterior margin of the labrum to the posterior margin of the elytra, head length from the anterior margin of the clypeus to the posterior constriction of the head, elytral length at the suture from the apex of the scutellum to the posterior margin of the elytra, and the length of the aedeagus from the apex of the ventral process to the base of the aedeagal capsule. The "parameral" side (i.e., the side where the sperm duct enters) is referred to as the ventral, the opposite side as the dorsal aspect.
Pseudotyphlopasilia coeca is the type species of the genus, with the type locality situated in the environs of Khashuri (Georgia: Shida Kartli). A female was recently reported from a locality to the southeast of the Rikoti pass (Assing 2021). The currently known distribution is illustrated in Map 1.
The newly collected material listed above reveals that the species is apparently subject to enormous intraspecific variation of body size and other external characters (Figs 1-2). The aedeagus is illustrated in Figs 11-12.

Introduction
According to a recent revision (Assing 2021), the Aleocharine genus Pseudotyphlopasilia Pace, 1983 belongs to the Meoticina of the Oxypodini and included ten species locally endemic in the Greater and the Lesser Caucasus. Nine of these species have been recorded from Georgia and one from the Krasnodar region in Southwest Russia. They are characterised by typical morphological adaptions of subterranean beetles, such as the complete reduction of eyes, the hind wings, and the palisade fringe at the posterior margin of the abdominal tergite VII, reduced pigmentation, and relatively slender legs. Accordingly, most of the known material has been collected by soil-washing. On some occasions, however, specimens have also been found by sifting and by sampling caves. Identification of Pseudotyphlopasilia species is difficult, mainly as a result of often enormous intraspecific variation of external characters combined with weakly pronounced interspecific variation. The aedeagus and the spermatheca represent the most reliable diagnostic characters for a separation of the species. Two field trips to Northwest Georgia conducted in July/ August and October 2021 by Michael Schülke (Berlin) and the author yielded a total of 29 specimens of Pseudotyphlopasilia. A study of this material revealed that they belong to five species, two of them previously described and three undescribed. Two of the unnamed species are described in the present paper. The third species is represented only by a single female; more material including at least one male would be required for an adequate description. In the course of the present study, it was also discovered that the type material of P. acris Assing, 2021 is composed of two species.

Pseudotyphlopasilia acris
The original description is based on two males (including the holotype) and one female with a damaged spermatheca from two localities near Lentheki and on two females from two close localities near Lailashi, a village approximately halfway between Lentheki and Ambrolauri. A study of the newly available material, particularly the intact spermatheca of the female, revealed that the specimens from Lentheki and Lailashi are not conspecific, so that P. acris is currently known only from the environs of Lentheki (Map 1). The spermatheca of P. acris is characterised by a conspicuous protrusion at the base of the relatively large distal portion (Fig. 14). The habitus, forebody, and the aedeagus of the newly collected specimens are illustrated in Figs 3-4, 12-13. The material from the environs of Lailashi belongs to a new species, which is described in the following section.

Comment:
The two females collected in 2016 were cited as paratypes of P. acris in Assing (2021); for more details see the section on P. acris above.

Etymology:
The specific epithet is the past participle of the Latin verb confundere (to confound) and alludes to the fact that this species was previously confounded with P. acris.
Description: Body length 2.2-3.0 mm; length of forebody 0.9-1.2 mm. Habitus as in Figs 5-6. Colouration: body pale-reddish to reddish-brown; legs yellow; antennae dark-yellow to yellowish-red; maxillary palpi dark-yellow. Head (Fig. 7) somewhat wedge-shaped; punctation extremely fine, visible in the distinct microreticulation only at high magnification (100 x). Pronotum (Fig. 7) nearly 1.4 times as broad as long, broadest approximately in the middle, and 1.2-1.4 times as broad as head, relatively broader in larger than in smaller specimens; lateral margins nearly obtusely angled in the middle (only larger specimens), not distinctly sinuate in posterior half, posterior angles obtusely marked; punctation moderately dense and fine, but more distinct than that of head; interstices with distinct microreticulation. Elytra (Fig. 7) 0.62-0.72 times as long as pronotum; punctation moderately dense and somewhat asperate; interstices with or without shallow microsculpture. Hind wings completely reduced. Legs slender; metatarsomere I as long as, or slightly longer than the combined length of metatarsomeres II and III. Abdomen: tergites III-V with anterior impressions; punctation fine and moderately dense on anterior tergites, decreasing in density towards posterior tergites, sparse on tergite VII; interstices with microreticulation composed of transverse meshes; posterior margin of tergite VII without palisade fringe; tergite VIII without sexual dimorphism, posterior margin weakly convex. : sternite VIII with medially obtusely produced posterior margin; median lobe of aedeagus (Figs 15-18) 0.28-0.29 mm long; ventral process distinctly sinuate in lateral view; internal sac with short flagellum. : posterior margin of sternite VIII broadly convex; spermatheca  relatively small, with slender distal portion and moderately long proximal portion; proximal portion with coils rather stout distally, gradually becoming less stout towards proximal end.

Intraspecific variation:
This species is remarkably variable regarding body size, colouration (larger specimens darker than smaller specimens), and the relative size of the pronotum (larger and broader in larger than in smaller specimens).
Comparative notes: Pseudotyphlopasilia confusa is distinguished from the geographically close P. acris, with which it was previously confounded, by a broader and laterally nearly angled pronotum (only large specimens), a slightly longer median lobe of the aedeagus with a broader (ventral view) and an apically differently shaped ventral process (lateral view), and particularly by a smaller spermatheca with a smaller and more slender distal portion without a basal protrusion.

Distribution and natural history:
The confirmed distribution is confined to two localities near Lailashi (Northwest Georgia: Racha) (Map 1). The specimens from the type locality were collected by soil-washing in a secondary forest with small trees near a river. The altitudes range from 510 to 1015 m.

Etymology:
The specific epithet is an adjective derived from Egrisi, the name of the mountain range where the species is most likely endemic.

Comparative notes:
This species is distinguished from other geographically close congeners as follows: -from P. acris and P. confusa particularly by the shape of the spermatheca (distal portion without protrusion; proximal portion with much more numerous coils, distal coils much stouter); -from P. cavernicola (Assing, 2007) primarily by the shape of the aedeagus (P. cavernicola: ventral process nearly straight in lateral view and apically gradually narrowed in ventral view; internal sac with longer flagellum). For illustrations of P. cavernicola, P. acris, and P. confusa see Assing (2007Assing ( , 2021 and Figs 3-7, 12-20. Distribution and natural history: The specimens were found in three localities in the Egrisi Range (Northwest Georgia: Zemo Svaneti) (Map 1). They were collected, partly by sifting and partly by soil-washing, in moist stream valleys with deciduous trees and at the margin of a deciduous forest. The altitudes range from 580 to 620 m. One female collected in August is teneral. Pseudotyphlopasilia spec. (Map 1) Material examined: Georgia: Kvemo Svaneti: 1 , E Lentekhi, S Panaga, 42°49'46"N, 42°55'09"E, 1160 m, deciduous forest, soil-washing (humus near old deciduous tree), 1.VIII.2021, leg. Assing (cAss).
The above female most likely represents an undescribed species distinguished from the geographically close P. acris and P. confusa by the shape of the spermatheca (proximal portion longer and with more numerous coils; distal portion without basal protrusion). In external characters and regarding the shape of the spermatheca, it is most similar to P. egrisica. The locality is illustrated in Map 1.