Dongodytes (s. str.) lani, Tian, Mingyi, Yin, Haomin & Huang, Sunbin, 2014

Tian, Mingyi, Yin, Haomin & Huang, Sunbin, 2014, Du'an Karst of Guangxi: a kingdom of the cavernicolous genus Dongodytes Deuve (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Trechinae), ZooKeys 454, pp. 69-107 : 78

Taxon classification Animalia Coleoptera Carabidae

Dongodytes (s. str.) lani sp. n. Figs 1j, 6, 10, 18, 25, 29, 35-36, 53-55and 73k

Description.

Length: 6.8-7.3 mm (mean 7.1 mm); width: 1.9-2.1 mm (mean 2.0 mm). Habitus as in Fig. 10.

Colour: Light yellowish brown, palps pale.

Macrosculpture: Surface smooth, polish and strongly shiny; head including underside surface and pronotum sparsely covered with rather long and erected setae (except the tumid propleura), elytra glabrous; prosternum with a row of 4-5 setae on each side; legs and abdominal ventrites pubescent.

Microsculpture: Engraved meshes densely and strongly transverse on head and pronotum, less transverse and faint on elytra.

Shape of the head (Fig. 18) intermediate between Dongodytes (s. str.) and Dongodytodes , genae more elongate than in Dongodytodes but more expanded posteriorly than in other Dongodytes (s. str.), widest at middle part; much longer than wide, HL/HW=3.0-3.5 (mean 3.2), excluding mandibles distinctly longer than pronotum (1.6-1.8 times, mean 1. 7); neck constriction shorter but broader, about half as wide as head; two pairs of supraorbital setae present, at about 1/3 and 2/3 from apex respectively; setae of anterior pores long and distinct, of posterior pores short and indistinct, slightly longer than other erected setae nearby, and asymmetrically sited; frontal furrows short, deeply impressed and narrow, not parallel medially; clypeus transverse, sexsetose; labrum transverse, distinctly emarginated apically; a pair of suborbital setae present; palps thin and very elongate, 3rd maxillary palpomere slightly longer than 4th; 2nd labial palpomere distinctly longer than 3rd, and bisetose on inner margin; ligula bisetose, but multi-setose at apex with adnated paraglosae; mentum and submentum well separated by clear labial suture; mentum bisetose medially, mental tooth simple, broad apically, a pair of basal pits small but distinct; submentum octosetose; antennae wholly pubescent, as long as in Dongodytes baxian , extending over elytral apex; 1st antennomere distinctly longer than 2nd which is as long as 10th and shorter than 11th, 3rd as long as 5th and slightly shorter than 4th which is the longest, 3rd nearly twice as long as 2nd, from 5th gradually shortened towards 10th.

Prothorax short and stout though much longer than wide, distinctly wider than head, widest at about 2/5 from base; propleura strongly tumid; PAW/PBW=0. 7-0.9 (mean 0.8), PW/PTW=0.7-0.8 (mean 0.7); pronotum narrow, slightly narrower than head, PW/HW=0.8-1.0 (mean 0.9), lateral borders invisible from above at about 1/6 of apical parts; widest at about middle, as wide as head; only a pair of latero-marginal setae present (posterior ones absent), at about middle, lateral sides strongly sinuate before hind angles which are bluntly acute (Fig. 29).

Elytra (Fig. 6) very elongate ovate, almost as long as head (excluding mandibles) plus prothorax; EW/PTW=2.0-2.2 (mean 2.1), EL/EW=1.9; base thin, sides at humeral parts slightly and widely sinuate, forming very faint shoulders (Fig. 29), where borders indistinct; apex rounded; comparatively long, distinctly longer than head (including mandibles) plus prothorax, widest at about 2/3 from base; striae shallow and vague, though 1st and 2nd are traceable; two dorsal pores present on areas of 3rd stria, at about 1/3 and 4/7 from base respectively; preapical dorsal pore absent; chaetotaxal pattern of marginal umbilicate pores similar in Dongodytes baxian , but 1st pore of the humeral set closer to marginal gutter, and far from 2nd, distance of them three times as long as from 2nd and 3rd.

Male genitalia (Figs 35-36): Median lobe of aedeagus very short, distinctly stouter than that of Dongodytes baxian and Dongodytes elongatus sp. n., ventral margin slightly and gently arcuate, slightly sinuate before apex which is broadly rounded, basal part very wide and long, nearly straight ventrally, basal orifice large; sagittal aileron very small and indistinct; inner sac armed with a large and long copulatory piece which covered with scale structures on surface, about 2/5 as long as the median lobe; in dorsal, apical lobe is slender, distinctly narrower than other congeners; parameres wide and broad, each of right and left parameres with three long apical setae respectively.

Remarks.

Dongodytes lani sp. n. is also a peculiar species in Dongodytes (s. str.) by having peculiar structures of head and aedeagus. Compared to Dongodytes elongatus sp. n. for which the posterior latero-marginal setae on pronotum are also lacking, Dongodytes lani sp. n. has stouter but shorter body, smooth and glabrous elytra, its genae more expanded posteriorly, and elytra without preapical dorsal pore (present in Dongodytes elongatus sp. n.).

Etymology.

Dedicated to Prof. Jiahu Lan ( Du’an Fishery Technique Popularization Station, Guangxi), a well-known cave fish specialist in China, for thanking his various assistances and efficient cooperation during our biospeleological surveys in Du’an Karst.

Material examined.

Holotype: male, Guangxi: Du’an: Longwan: cave Longhuan Dong, 23° 49.5213N, 108° 14.4792E, 248 m, 2013-XII-24, leg. Mingyi Tian, Weixin Liu, Haomin Yin & Xiaozhu Luo, in SCAU; Paratypes: 1 male and 4 females, ibid, in SCAU.

Distribution.

Guangxi ( Du’an). Known only from the type locality, a cave called Longhuan Dong in Longwan (Figs 1j and 73k).

Longhuan Dong (Figs 53-55) is about 100 m long, one to two metres wide and one to two metres high. There is a pool at the end of the passage, which is the water source for the local people. Part of the main passage is an artificial tunnel and very dry. The blind beetles were collected under pieces of decayed woods in a wet area just close to the pool. Other animals living in the cave are crickets, diplurans, isopods, millipedes, scutigers and snails.