taxonID	type	description	language	source
0A444A12BBDD557989E71F81881D3FD7.taxon	description	Fig. 2	en	Wang, YuHeng, Montreuil, Olivier, Coppo, Paul (2025): A new species of Cheironitis van Lansberge, 1875 (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Onitini) and the first record of Cheironitis moeris (Pallas, 1787) from China. ZooKeys 1265: 151-158, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1265.174240
0A444A12BBDD557989E71F81881D3FD7.taxon	description	Description. Holotype (Fig. 2 A). Male: Overall aspect. Length 19.5 mm. Body dark blue with metallic luster, and black setae (Fig. 2 A). Head. Wide with irregular punctations. Clypeus semicircular anteriorly, strongly incurved in the middle. Frontal carina slightly curved. Clypeal carina shorter than the space between the clypeal teeth. Circumocular ridge very apparent. Pronotum. Width longer than length. Deep concave points on both sides. Outer edge noticeably wider in the middle than at the two ends of the external margin. Pronotal margins coarsely serrated. Two adjacent deep foveae at the posterior end of pronotum. Two foveae on both sides of the midline at the median-posterior portion of the pronotum. Elytra. Slightly shorter than pronotal width. Lateral carina strong on first half and faint thereafter. Elytral suture prominent. Multiple irregular granules on the surface. Lateral carina weak on first half and vanishing thereafter. Legs. Protibia developed, with 4 tooth-like protrusions on the external margin, the proximal tooth very small. Protibia curved downward at 2 / 3 and inward thereafter. Two teeth on internal margin of protibia, at the same level as first and third teeth on external margin; multiple setae on internal margin of distal area. Profemora black, with dense setae on internal margin. Two spines at the junction of profemora and protibia, one dorsally-directed and one ventrally-directed. Dorsally-directed spine strongly developed (Fig. 2 A) Ventral side. Mesosternum black, densely and irregularly punctuated. Propleuron smooth (Fig. 2 B) Adeagus. Parameres and phallobase of almost equal length. Distal end of parameres uncinate. Bulge on the 1 / 4 of ventral surface (Fig. 2 C – E). Paratype, male. Body length is 19.7 mm, otherwise similar to the holotype. Female: unknown.	en	Wang, YuHeng, Montreuil, Olivier, Coppo, Paul (2025): A new species of Cheironitis van Lansberge, 1875 (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Onitini) and the first record of Cheironitis moeris (Pallas, 1787) from China. ZooKeys 1265: 151-158, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1265.174240
0A444A12BBDD557989E71F81881D3FD7.taxon	distribution	Distribution. Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China.	en	Wang, YuHeng, Montreuil, Olivier, Coppo, Paul (2025): A new species of Cheironitis van Lansberge, 1875 (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Onitini) and the first record of Cheironitis moeris (Pallas, 1787) from China. ZooKeys 1265: 151-158, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1265.174240
0A444A12BBDD557989E71F81881D3FD7.taxon	etymology	Etymology. This species is named after the first author’s mother’s name.	en	Wang, YuHeng, Montreuil, Olivier, Coppo, Paul (2025): A new species of Cheironitis van Lansberge, 1875 (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Onitini) and the first record of Cheironitis moeris (Pallas, 1787) from China. ZooKeys 1265: 151-158, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1265.174240
0A444A12BBDD557989E71F81881D3FD7.taxon	diagnosis	Diagnosis. The new species Cheironitis aiweiae sp. nov. belongs to the black species group of Cheironitis inhabiting Central Asia and surrounding areas: C. haroldi (Ballion, 1871), C. osiridis (Reiche, 1856), C. klapperichi (Balthasar, 1955), C. furcifer (Rossi, 1792), C. moeris (Pallas, 1787), C. sterculius (Ballion, 1871), and C. candezi (Lansberge, 1875). In addition to the special curve of the protibia, the new species can be clearly distinguished from these related species by the following obvious characteristics: Cheironitis furcifer (Rossi, 1792): Protibia with only three teeth. Anterior margin of male profemora deeply emarginated, with a strong, complicated, forward-pointing lamella. Prosternal process strongly protrusive, forming a two-spined fork. Cheironitis moeris (Pallas, 1787): Pronotum with raised, unpunctured, smooth areas. Anterior margin of male protibia with a strong forward-pointing tooth separated from apical edge. Cheironitis sterculius (Ballion, 1871) and C. candezi (Lansberge, 1875): Both larger than the new species and have strong teeth in the middle of the underside of the protibia. Cheironitis osiridis (Reiche, 1856): Anterior margin of male protibia with one long downward-pointing tooth near the base. Cheironitis klapperichi (Balthasar, 1955): Anterior margin of male protibia with one strong forward-pointing fork-shaped process near the base. By the elytra distinctly and completely covered by small granules and the lack of an apical tooth at the anterior margin of the male protibia (Fig. 3; arrows), the new species seems closer to C. haroldi (Ballion, 1871). The main differences between the two species are summarized in Table 1. As Cheironitis species are known to have significant allometric variability in the male’s leg shapes, the differences presented here are mostly relevant to major males. Natural history A few specimens of Cheironitis aiweiae sp. nov. were collected from horse dung in June in arid areas (Fig. 4), consistent with the relatively dry habitat of other species in the genus. This new species was found in association with only C. moeris (Pallas, 1787). No other Scarabaeinae species were found in association with these two species, probably because of the particularly dry condition of the habitat during the period of the year when the active beetles were collected.	en	Wang, YuHeng, Montreuil, Olivier, Coppo, Paul (2025): A new species of Cheironitis van Lansberge, 1875 (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Onitini) and the first record of Cheironitis moeris (Pallas, 1787) from China. ZooKeys 1265: 151-158, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1265.174240
976A571FDEE0504B991A1ACD5BFC84E6.taxon	description	Fig. 1	en	Wang, YuHeng, Montreuil, Olivier, Coppo, Paul (2025): A new species of Cheironitis van Lansberge, 1875 (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Onitini) and the first record of Cheironitis moeris (Pallas, 1787) from China. ZooKeys 1265: 151-158, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1265.174240
976A571FDEE0504B991A1ACD5BFC84E6.taxon	distribution	Distribution. Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, China.	en	Wang, YuHeng, Montreuil, Olivier, Coppo, Paul (2025): A new species of Cheironitis van Lansberge, 1875 (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Onitini) and the first record of Cheironitis moeris (Pallas, 1787) from China. ZooKeys 1265: 151-158, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.1265.174240
