Cephennium fortespinosum Assing & Brachat & Meybohm 2019, spec. nov.

Cephennium fortespinosum ASSING spec. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: C84F5038-F12C-48CC-9ED7-8DBE6BAE1D5C

(Figs 118–119)

Type material: Holotype ♂: “ N35°06'57 E26°13'10, GR Ostkreta Ano Zakros 14.3.2019, Brachat & Meybohm (1) / Holotypus ♂ Cephennium fortespinosum sp. n. det. V. Assing 2019” (cAss). Paratypes: 3 ♀♀: “GR – Crete [16], Zakros, 35°06'57"N, 26°13'10"E, 190 m, dry stream valley, soil washing, 27.XII.2018, V. Assing ” (cAss).

Etymology: The specific epithet (Latin, adjective) alludes to the massive spines in the internal sac of the aedeagus.

Description: External characters as in C. sinuosum; distinguished only by the male primary sexual characters.

♂: aedeagus 0.27 mm long; ventral process much broader, shorter, and apically less acute in ventral view, stouter in lateral view; internal sac with a long and massive median spine and with three pairs of lateral spines (Figs 118–119).

Comparative notes: Cephennium fortespinosum is reliably distinguished from C. sinuosum and other species of the C. sinuosum group only by the shape and internal structures of the aedeagus.

Distribution and natural history: The type locality is situated immediately north of Zakros in the extreme east on Crete. The specimens were washed from soil taken in the stream valley with Platanus orientalis at an altitude of 190 m.