Ischnopodaschuelkei Pa ś nik, sp. n. (Figs. 28­30)

Type material. Holotype: ♂: Tajikistan, Hissar–Alai, Adjuk–Cleft near Warsob Bachufer, 1200 m, 1–3.VII.1990, M. Schülke (MSPC) . Paratypes: 6♂♂ and 3♀♀: same data as the holotype (MSPC); 5♂♂ and 5♀♀: same data as the holotype (ISEA); 3♂♂ and 4♀♀: same data as the holotype (VAPC) .

Description. Body. Length 2.6–2.9 mm, convex, parallel­sided, glossy; head black, pronotum dark brown, elytra yellow, along lateral margins narrowly blackened, abdomen black with targites 3–4 brown, legs yellow, antennae brown with antennomeres 1–3 red.

Head circular in outline, moderately convex; eyes large, moderately protruding from lateral contours of head, length of each seen from above subequal to that of postocular region; surface of head without microsculpture; puncturation fine and dense. Antennae relatively short, clearly increased in width apically, antennomeres 2 and 3 subequal in length, antennomeres 4–8 longer than wide, antennomeres 9–10 quadrate, antennomere 11 nearly conical.

Pronotum quadrate, lateral sides gradually narrowed in straight line to obtuse hind angles; before base with moderately small and shallow transverse impression; surface without microsculpture; puncturation fine, dense and asperate; pubescence at midline directed entirely anteriorly.

Elytra subquadrate, at suture as long as pronotum at midline; surface without microsculpture; puncturation fine, dense and asperate.

Abdomen parallel­sided, bases of tergites 3–5 each with deep transverse impression, impressions coarsely and densely punctuate, tergal puncturation fine and dense, tergite 8 with fine transversely stretched isodiametric mesh microsculpture.

Male. Aedeagus as in Figs. 28–29.

Female. Spermatheca as in Fig. 30.

Remarks. Ischnopodaschuelkei is closely related to I. subaenea, from which it differs by its smaller size, the paler elytra, the finer and sparser pronotal puncturation and by the shape of genitalia.

Etymology. The species is dedicated to Michael Schülke (Berlin), a specialist in

Staphylinidae, who collected some of the types and made this material available for study. Distribution. The species is known only from the type locality in Tajikistan.