Genus Typhlotectusa nov.gen. (Figs 1-10)

T y p e s p e c i e s: Typhlotectusa frischi nov.sp.

E t y m o l o g y: The new name (gender: feminine) alludes to the complete absence of eyes and the superficial resemblance to species of the oxypodine genus Tectusa.

D e s c r i p t i o n: Species of small body size and slender habitus (Fig. 1).

Head (Figs 2-3) large in relation to pronotum, of orbicular shape, strongly convex in cross-section; postgenal carinae visible only posteriorly in lateral view; gular sutures broadly separated. Antenna (Fig. 4) moderately long, strongly incrassate apically, and with strongly transverse antennomeres IV-X. Eyes completely absent (Fig. 3). Labrum strongly transverse. Right mandible with pronounced molar tooth. Maxillary palpus (Fig. 7) with relatively short palpomeres. Labium (Fig. 4) with 3-jointed palpi, palpomeres moderately slender; ligula short, but slender, apically bilobed.

Pronotum (Fig. 2) slender, broadest anteriorly, only slightly broader than head. Elytra slender, of reduced length. Legs relatively short; all tarsi five-jointed; metatarsomere I shorter than combined length of metatarsomeres II and III. Ventral aspect of thorax not distinctive.

Abdomen slender, broadest at segments VI-VII; tergites III and IV with moderately deep, tergite V with shallow, and tergite VI without anterior impressions.

♂: sternite VIII (Fig. 6) with weakly convex posterior margin, not produced in the middle; morphology of the median lobe of aedeagus (Figs 8-9) of the Oxypoda type; paramere (Fig. 10) with relatively short and broad apical lobe.

♀: unknown.

C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Based on external characters and particularly the morphology of the aedeagus (shape and internal structures of median lobe; shape of apical lobe of paramere), the new genus belongs to the Oxypodina . Among the genera of this subtribe, it is characterized particularly by a slender habitus, a strongly convex head (cross-section) with strongly incrassate antennae, relatively short maxillary palpomeres, and a slender bilobed ligula, by a short metatarsomere I, and by the shape of the male sternite VIII (posteriorly not produced). In external appearance, the genus somewhat resembles Tectusa, from which it is additionally distinguished by a shorter and basally or medially undilated apical lobe of the paramere.

D i s t r i b u t i o n a n d n a t u r a l h i s t o r y: The distribution of this genus is currently confined to East Kyrgyzstan, Middle Asia (Map 1). The adaptive reductions of the eyes, hind wings, and pigmentation, as well as the available ecological data suggest that the type species is adapted to a high-altitude habitat.