Euscelophilus caperratus Xie & Liang

Xie, Meng & Liang, Xingcai, 2008, Three new species of the genus Euscelophilus Voss (Coleoptera: Attelabidae) from China, Zootaxa 1808, pp. 33-43 : 39

Euscelophilus caperratus Xie & Liang , sp. n.

( Figs. 3 , 6 A–H)

Description. Male (fig. 3). Length 5.4 mm. Coloration of integument not visible due to very dense golden vestiture covering all of body including head, rostrum, antennae, prothorax, scutellum, elytra and abdomen; legs with cupreous lustre, covered with moderately sparse, golden hairs. Head (figs. 6A, B) short and broad, 1.5x longer than broad, cylindrical, not constricted at base, with uniform dense punctures. Rostrum short and stout, weakly constricted at base, almost as long as broad, with shorter and sparser setation. Antennae (fig. 6C) with scape robust, oblong-oval, 2x longer than broad; 1st funicular segment oval, shorter than scape, 2nd as long but thinner and obconical, 3rd subglobose, a little longer than broad, 4th, 5th and 6th globose, progressively widening, 7th transverse, broader than 6th; club robust, 2nd segment as long as 1st, 3rd very short, 4th conical, not fused with 3rd. Area between antennal insertions weakly convex, with a median furrow extending to end of head. Eyes hemispherical, moderately convex, broadly separated. Frons flat, weakly concave between eyes, with a median furrow and three lateral ones, clearly forming eight ridges gradually shortening from middle to sides. Pronotum trapezoid, with dense fine punctation; disc swollen, with a distinct, glabrous median groove. Scutellum broader than long, inverted trapezoidal, covered with dense golden hairs. Elytra subrectangular, 2.3x longer than broad, sides almost parallel behind humeri but slightly diverging posteriad; weakly convex in middle; striae and intervals invisible due to dense golden vestiture, except 1st and 2nd striae weakly discernible and consisting of fine, uniform punctures. Elytra flat except for a pair of small, blunt protuberances at scutellum and slightly inflated humeri. Legs (fig. 6E): Femora moderately strongly clavate; setation weaker and sparser than on body; exposed areas cupreous, with dense small round punctures. Front femora a little longer than others, all with a prominent but short and small spine. Tibiae short, dorsal contour straight, slightly curved, ventrally with a row of equidistant denticles, weakly bisinuate, uncus stout; front tibiae longest, hind tibiae shortest. Tarsi 3/5 as long as tibiae. Abdomen (fig. 6D) a little broader than long; sides almost parallel but rounded posteriorly. 1st to 4th ventrites finely and densely punctate in middle, laterally with thick golden hairs; 5th short, with rough, and irregular punctures in middle. Pygidium pilose. Genitalia as in figs. 6F–H.

Material examined. Holotype male: CHINA: Gansu Province (Linxia County, alt. 1900m), 18-August- 1980, Ji-kun Yang Coll. ( CAU).

Etymology. This name of this species is based on the Latin verb caperrare, meaning to frown, and refers to the distinct wrinkles between its eyes.

Distribution. P. R. China: Gansu, Linxia County.

Notes. This new species is similar to Euscelophilus mayongi (Legalov & Liu) in its coppery coloration and the absence of a protuberance on the pronotum, but it can be distinguished by its larger size, very dense vestitute and flat, not depressed frons.

Figures

FIGURE 6. Structural details of Euscelophilus caperratus Xie & Liang sp. n.. A, head, dorsal aspect; B, head, lateral aspect; C, antenna; D, venter; E, front leg; F, aedeagus and tegmen, ventral aspect; G, aedeagus and tegmen, lateral aspect; H, spiculum gastrale. Scale bars = 1.0 mm for figs. A, B, D, E; 0.5 mm for figs. C, F – H.

FIGURES 1 – 3. Dorsal habitus of new Euscelophilus species. 1, E. longispinus Xie & Liang sp. n. (male); 2, E. gaoligongensis Xie & Liang sp. n. (male); 3, E. caperratus Xie & Liang sp. n. (male).