Sinotroglodytes hefengensis Tian & Li, 2021

Tian, Mingyi, Huang, Xinglong & Li, Chenliang, 2021, Contribution to the knowledge of subterranean ground beetles from eastern Wuling Mountains, China (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Trechinae), Zootaxa 4926 (4), pp. 521-534 : 530-533

Sinotroglodytes hefengensis Tian & Li , n. sp.

( Figs. 1 , 8–9 )

Type material. Holotype male, paratypes 2 male and 2 females, the limestone cave Qizimei Dong , Qizimeishan , Chunmuyun , Hefeng County, Enshi Tujia & Miao Autonomous Prefecture, southwestern Hubei Province, Central China, 30°02’30”N / 109°47’09”E, 1820 m in altitude, 2020-VI-18, leg. Chenliang Li, in SCAU.

Diagnosis. A medium-sized Sinotroglodytes species, the body a little slenderer than other congeners, with an elongate head which is nearly parallel-sided.

Description. Length: 6.0– 6.5 mm; width: 1.9–2.2 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 8 .

Anophthalmous, depigmented, body concolourously reddish-brown, but head and pronotum slightly darker. Surface glabrous on dorsum, microsculpture consisting of isodiametric meshes on head, transverse striations on pronotum and elytra. Moderately convex on dorsum.

Head subquadrate, eyes absent, longer than wide, widest at about middle, HLm/HW = 2.8–3.0, HLl/HW = 1.5– 1.6; frontal furrows complete and well-marked, strongly divergent posteriorly; anterior pairs of supraorbital pores at about half and the posterior at the ending points of frontal furrows respectively; clypeus quadrisetose; labrum 6- setose; right mandible well-developed, tridentate though median one is weak; labial suture completely disappeared; mentum bisetose on either side of tooth base, widely and deeply concave at basal area; tooth short but broad, bifid at tip; submentum with a row of 10 setae; ligula thick and short, 8-setose at apex, inner two much stouter and longer than other; palps elongate, all glabrous but 2 nd labial palpomere bisetose on inner margin at middle and subapex respectively, and with other two additional setae on outer margin; the 2 nd labial palpomere about 1.2 times as long as 3 rd; 3 rd maxillary palpomere as long as 4 th; suborbital pores close to neck constriction; antennae extending over apical third of elytra, relative length of each antennomere in the holotype specimen as follows: 1 st (1.0), 2 nd (1.0), 3 rd (1.6), 4 th (1.4), 5 th (1.3), 6 th (1.3), 7 th (1.2), 8 th (1.1), 9 th (1.1), 10 th (1.1) and 11 th (1.4).

Pronotum wider than head, PW/HW = 1.2–1.3, almost as long as wide, widest about middle, base slightly narrower than front, PbW/PfW = 0.86–0.88; lateral margins narrowly reflexed upwards throughout, suddenly sinuate just before hind angles which is obtuse, fore angles protruding; anterior and posterior latero-marginal setae at frontal 1/6 and at hind angles of pronotum respectively.

Elytra ( Fig. 9A ) subovate and strongly convex in dorsum, more elongated than other congeners; much longer than forebody, much longer than wide, EL/EW = 1.5–1.7, widest at about middle, lateral margins ciliate in the prehumeral part, smooth and glabrous in other parts, humeral angles rounded over; striae more or less reduced but easily traceable; basal pore present, three dorsal setiferous pores present along 3 rd stria or on 4 th interval; the preapical dorsal pore located in the anastomosis of striae 3 and 4, closer to suture than to apical margin of elytra; chaetotaxy of marginal umbilicate pore series similar to other congeners.

Legs moderately elongate; in male, profemora remarkably tuberculate on front-ventral aspect and cover with a cluster of long setae, and only 1 st protarsomere modified.

Abdominal ventrites sparsely setose; ventrites IV–VI each with a pair of paramedial setae, VII bisetose apically in male, whereas quadrisetose in female.

Male genitalia ( Fig. 9B, C ): Similar to Sinotroglodytes ariagnoi Deuve, 2016 but a little more elongate; basal orifice large, sagittal aileron moderate and weakly sclerotized; apical part of median lobe blunt at apex; copulatory piece small, feebly sclerotized, about 1/4 as long as aedeagus; in dorsal view, apical lobe wide, gradually contracted toward apex which is broadly rounded; parameres large and well-developed, each bearing 4 apical setae.

Remarks. Differs from other members of the genus Sinotroglodytes by its slender head which is nearly parallel-sided, and the protruding fore angles of pronotum.

Etymology. Refers to the type locality.

Distribution. China (Hubei). Known only from a limestone cave near Chunmuyun Town ( Fig. 1 ).

The cave Qizimei Dong is at about 4 km from Chunmuyun Town to the west and remains in good natural condition. Its length is unknown. All the beetles were collected in the dark zone not far from the entrance, most found under the stone but one running on the wall of the main passage ( Fig. 9D ).

Figures

FIGURE 1. A distribution map showing the locality caves of the three new species described in the present paper (Tangle Dong: Xiangxius jiangi Tian & X. Huang, n. gen., n. sp. and Guizhaphaenopsodes solidior Tian & X. Huang, n. gen., n. sp.; Qizimei Dong: Sinotroglodytes hefengensis Tian & Li, n. sp.).

FIGURE 8. Sinotroglodytes hefengensis Tian & Li, n. sp., habitus

FIGURE 9. Sinotroglodytes hefengensis Tian & Li, n. sp. (A. left elytron, showing chaetotaxy; B. male genitalia lateral view; C. apical lobe of median lobe, dorsal view; D. a running individual on the wall of the cave).