Neohaptoderus Tschitschérine, 1898

Fedorenko, D. N., 2023, New taxa of Pterostichus (Coleoptera: Carabidae) from Vietnam, Russian Entomological Journal 32 (1), pp. 16-39 : 22-23

Subgenus Neohaptoderus Tschitschérine, 1898

Tschitschérine, 1898a: 183 ( Feronia subg.); Sciaky, 1994: 1; Sciaky, Wrase, 1997: 1091; Shi et al., 2013: 105.

Type species: Feronia berezowskii Tschitschérine, 1898 , subsequently designated by Lorenz [1998].

DIAGNOSIS. A polytypic subgenus of Pterostichus from southern China to northern Vietnam, defined chiefly by the combination of the body apterous, the metepisternum short, cx 3 bisetose and tr 3 with seta. Most species also share the pronotum distinctly bisulcate on each side of base, the elytron with 1–2 discal setae (d2 and/or d3) adjoining stria 2, and the tarsomere 5 glabrous ventrally.

Body setation otherwise complete: clypeus bisetose, two supraocular setae, two elytral apical setae in stria 7, fe 1 posterior face trisetose, fe 2 with two anteroventral setae in basal three fifths and two anterodorsal setae in apical two fifths, fe 3 bisetose; ti 3 toward apex with 1–3 lateral spiniform setae. Tarsomere 5 glabrous ventrally in more than 80% species of the subgenus.

REDESCRIPTION (For recognition only). Body rather medium-sized, BL 7–16 mm. Dorsum shiny black.

Head medium-sized, with neck constriction distinct to imperceptible. Eyes more or less flattened and often rather small, with genae fairly long. Clypeus subsinuate apically, frontoclypeal suture fine and straight, imperceptible on sides. Frontal sulci smooth, usually moderately long, moderately deep and slightly diverging. Antennal scape with preapical seta, pedicel glabrous except for ventral seta and apical verticillate setae, antennomeres 4–11 pubescent. Mentum tooth bifid, submentum quadrisetose. Penultimate labial palpomere bisetose, apical labial and maxillary palpomeres subfusiform.

Pronotum cordate to quadrate or circular, bisetose on each side; these finely beaded. Base with two, well-impressed, basolateral sulci on each side, adjoining along base; inner sulcus separate from lateral groove, rarely absent.

Elytra rather wide at bases, with striae 1–7 or 1–6 inside humeral angle; humeri and humeral tooth distinct, parascutellar seta present, parascutellar striole short to missing. Interval 3 with 1–2 setae, d2 and/or d3; USS: 13–17, sometimes 20–21; US arranged into three groups, anterior (5–7, mostly six, US), intermediate (1–2), and posterior (8–9).

Prosternal process with fine apical bead only (abraded in some older specimens); inclination wide, convex to flat, with margins edged or beaded, or not. Abdominal sternite VII bi- (♂) or quadrisetose (♀) at apex, not or slightly modified into a shallow median concavity in male, sometimes with very fine median carina at bottom; rarely with a small median tubercle.

Legs strong; ti 1 with anterior face smooth and glabrous; tarsi carinate laterally and sulcate on each side of the carina. Protarsomeres 1–3 dilated, with ventral pad, in male, or strongly toothed at ventro-apical angles in female.

Aedeagus rather typical of the genus, median lobe in lateral view strongly curved to nearly geniculate; apex in dorsal view small triangular to trapezoidal. Right paramere mostly long, arcuate, narrow to very wide, sometimes hooked or moderately long, or short. Everted and inflated internal sac curved to the left and then ventrad and slightly basad; its inner curve mostly with an oblong, more or less sclerotized, concavity to receive a vesicle in form of an oblong sclerite.

Female tergite VIII fairly wide, rounded at apex; sternite VIII fairly wide, rounded on sides, evenly sclerotized (pigmented), with a small to indistinct, depigmented, latero-apical area; apical pubescence mostly long, dense, absent from sides, medial setae being longer; basolateral apodemes moderately wide, about half as wide at base as long, subtriangular or rectangular, sclerotized same as sternite proper. Tergite IX: laterotergite apically membranous, rounded, densely setose; gonosubcoxite with a row of dense ensiform setae along latero-apical margin. Gonocoxite crescent, with apex pointed, preapical nematiform seta, one inner (d, dorsal) and two outer (v, ventral) ensiform setae. This primary type gonocoxite modified into subtriangular to elliptic one in most species, with apex rounded or blunt, and ensiform setae varying considerably between species, so that 1d+1v, 2d+2v, 2–3d+3–4v combinations occur. Reproductive tract as for Morphohaptoderus , except for receptacle curved and seminal canal lacking basal sclerotization while varying much in length.

COMMENTS. This subgenus includes 17 described and many undescribed species from China.

Some significant characters are polythetic within the subgenus. For instance, some species have the right paramere short (vs. long in most of the others). Furthermore, tr 3 seta has been found to be missing in one species while polymorphic in another one, i.e., either present (2 ♂♂) or missing (2 ♀♀), or vestigial unilateral (♀). Inner apical setae of the abdominal sternite VII tend to disappear in females of at least two species. One of them is described below and P. (N.) szetschuanensis ( Tschitschérine, 1889) has been found to have 1+2 apical setae in one of two female specimens examined.

Sciaky [1994] supposed the closest relationships between Neohaptoderus and Morphohaptoderus . I do not share this hypothesis because many features combined, especially the short metepisternum (following apterous condition of the body), cx 3 trisetose, and a peculiar internal sac of aedeagus, suggest rather isolated position of Morphohaptoderus within Pterostichus lineage D sensu Sasakawa and Kubota [2007]. Neohaptoderus may instead be closer to the lineage or lineages defined by the combination of cx 3 bisetose and tr 3 with seta, among them Agastillus Reitter, 1892 ; Haplomaseus Reitter, 1896 ; Oreoplatysma Jakobson, 1907 ; and Asioplatysma Kryzhanovskij, 1968 . Moreover Sinosteropus Sciaky, 1994 , seems to be the closest ally or only a group of Neohaptoderus , since the two taxa share many significant characters, including very similar reproductive tract, genitalia, and pregenital abdominal urites in female. Many other features of Sinosteropus such as pronotal basal angles rounded, the outer basolateral sulcus lost, and the parascutellar seta often missing, are by comparison derived characters. Plesiomorphic states of some of these characters could be seen within the perhoplites -group that was provisionally assigned to Sinosteropus [ Schmidt, Tian, 2011]. This group is distinctive in having pronotal basal angles sharp, the parascutellar seta constantly missing, and an undescribed species of this group from China has the pronotum bisulcate on each side.