Euconnus (s. str.) chinensis Franz, 1985

Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2022, Taxonomy of ' Euconnus complex'. Part XXIV. Intermediate forms between Psomophus, Eupentarius and Euconnus s. str. in the East Palaearctic fauna unify problematic subgenera (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae), Zootaxa 5194 (3), pp. 343-391 : 345-346

Euconnus (s. str.) chinensis Franz

Euconnus (Spanioconnus) chinensis Franz, 1985a: 114 .

Euconnus (Psomophus) chinensis Franz ; Franz, 1985b: 165 (implied).

( Figs 1–5 )

Type material studied. Holotype ( China: Fujian): ♂, three labels: “ Shaowu , 500 m / Fukien, China / 17.11.1946 ” [white, printed and handwritten], “ Euconnus / (Spanioconnus) / chinensis m. / det. H.Franz ” [white, handwritten and printed], “ Holotypus ” [red, handwritten] ( NHMW) . Paratypes (3 exx): 2 ♀♀ and 1 ex. of unknown sex, same locality label as for holotype, lacking any other labels (but matching data given in original description for paratypes) ( NHMW) .

Diagnosis. Antennal club clearly trimerous and slender; head round; pronotum subconical and broadest near base but only moderately narrowing anterad, with one pair of antebasal pits connected by distinct transverse groove and with distinct sublateral carinae; protibiae in males strongly bent mesad in apical regions; aedeagus not strongly sclerotized, in ventral view with distinct ring-like sclerotized endophallic structure and conspicuously long dorsal apical plate, with sub-parallel sides in proximal half, rounded in distal region and forming angulate, broadly subtriangular apex.

Description. Body of male ( Fig. 1 ) elongate, moderately convex; pigmentation moderately dark umbra brown, with legs, antennomeres except 9‒11 and palps distinctly lighter, antennal clubs slightly infuscate; body covered with setae distinctly lighter than cuticle; BL 1.10 mm.

Head ( Fig. 1 ) broadest at eyes, indistinctly transverse, HL 0.20 mm, HW 0.23 mm; tempora in dorsal view about as long as eyes, behind eyes strongly and evenly convergent posterad, posterior margin of vertex weakly arcuate, not bulging posterodorsad. Frons and vertex with unremarkable, fine punctures, glossy; setae sparse and suberect, tempora with sparse thick bristles. Antennae slender, with loosely assembled and slender trimerous club, AnL 0.50 mm, scape and pedicel each elongate, antennomeres 3–5 each indistinctly longer than wide, 6–8 each as long as broad, 9–11 enlarged, 9 and 10 each as long as broad, 11 distinctly shorter than 9 and 10 combined, about 1.6 × as long as broad.

Pronotum subconical and broadest shortly in front of base, moderately narrowing anterad; PL 0.28 mm, PW 0.28 mm. Sides weakly rounded, base with one pair of small but distinct pits connected by transverse groove, and with distinct, sharply marked sublateral carinae. Punctures and setae on disc similar to those on frons and vertex; sides of pronotum with moderately dense thick bristles.

Elytra together oval, broadest distinctly in front of middle; EL 0.63 mm, EW 0.48 mm, EI 1.32; humeral calli distinct and slightly elongate, mesally demarcated by elongate impressions; elytral apices separately rounded. Punctures fine, superficial and inconspicuous; setae sparse but distinctly longer than those on pronotal disc, suberect.

Legs slender, protibiae modified, with apical regions strongly bent mesad.

Aedeagus ( Figs 2–5 ) weakly elongate, AeL 0.20 mm; median lobe in ventral view broadest in distal half, in lateral view strongly curved, dorsal apical plate in ventral view elongate, with sides nearly parallel in proximal half, rounded and converging distad to form subtriangular apex; endophallus with ring-like sclerotized structure. Parameres slender but short, not reaching apex of median lobe, each with two long apical setae.

Female. Similar to male but with straight, unmodified distal region of protibia. BL 1.16 mm; HL 0.24 mm, HW 0.25 mm, AnL 0.48 mm; PL 0.28 mm, PW 0.30 mm; EL 0.65 mm, EW 0.50 mm, EI 1.30.

Distribution. Known only from the type locality in Fujian, China.

Remarks. This species is externally extremely similar to the Japanese E. debilis and the Far Russian E. nuperus ; females of these species can be identified only by association with males collected in the same spot. Aedeagi within this group are also similar, but differ clearly in the apical structures, especially in the shape of the dorsal apical plate (illustrated for E. debilis in Jałoszyński (2022), and for E. nuperus in Kurbatov (2006)).

Figures

FIGURES 1‒5. Euconnus chinensis Franz, holotype male. Dorsal habitus (1); aedeagus in ventral (2, 4) and lateral (3, 5) views.