Fortiseode Jia & Ren

Jia, Ting, Liang, Hongbing, Chang, Huali & Ren, Dong, 2011, A new genus and species of fossil Eodromeinae from the Yixian Formation of Western Liaoning, China (Coleoptera: Adephaga: Trachypachidae), Zootaxa 2736, pp. 63-68 : 64-65

Genus Fortiseode Jia & Ren gen. nov.

Etymology. The Latin word of “ fortis- ”, which means strong, refers to its strong mandibles and legs.

Type species. Fortiseode pervalimand Jia & Ren sp. nov.

Diagnosis. Head transverse, length of head capsule more than half its width; Mandibles with the same length as the head; Pronotum cordiform, widest at about anterior one-fifth of the pronotum, anterior edge of pronotum strongly concave; base of pronotum with similar width as base of elytra; length of head including mandibles nearly equal to width of head capsule; hind coxae strong, transverse; legs with strong femora and tibiae, metatarsus shorter than 1/2 of elytra, metatarsus short, with length nearly 1/2 metatarsus length; trochanters large, longer than 1/3 metafemur length.

Remarks. The new genus is assigned to the family Trachypachidae based on the following characters: (1) Antennae smooth and non-pubescent; (2) Hind coxae large, and extend to the lateral margins of body. The attribution of the new genus to the subfamily Eodromeinae Ponomarenko, 1977 is based on the following characters: (1) Clypeus not extending to point of antennal attachment; (2) Forecoxal cavities open; (3) Lateral wall of midcoxal cavities formed by mesosternum, mesepimeron and metasternum; (4) Mesepisternum not extending to midcoxal cavities, minimum separation equal to mesepisternal mesal margin; (5) Hind coxae separating metasternum and abdomen, with large femoral plates.

Comparisons. According to the fossil record in the subfamily Eodromeinae, there are seven genera described from Mesozoic Era: Sogdodromeus Ponomarenko, 1977 ; Platycoxa Ponomarenko, 1977 ; Unda Ponomarenko, 1977 ; Psacodromeus Ponomarenko, 1977 ; Karatoma Ponomarenko, 1977 ; Karadromeus Ponomarenko, 1977 ; Eodromeus Ponomarenko, 1977 .

The new genus, as compared with the genus Sogdodromeus Ponomarenko, 1977 from Triassic of Soviet Central Asia, has the following unique characters: (1) Head transverse, length of head capsule more than half its width; (2) Width of the last sternite nearly equal to that of the base of abdomen; (3) Midcoxal cavities large, oval, and separated from one another.

The new genus differs from the genus Platycoxa Ponomarenko, 1977 from Late-Jurassic of Soviet Central Asia by the following features: (1) Head transverse, length of head capsule more than half its width; (2) Pronotum cordiform, widest at about anterior one-fifth of the pronotum, anterior edge of pronotum strongly concave; (3) Width of the last sternite nearly equal to that of the base of abdomen.

The new genus differs from the genus Unda Ponomarenko, 1977 from Early-Cretaceous of Transbaikal by the following features: (1) Antennae shorter and thicker; (2) Pronotum cordiform, widest at about anterior one-fifth of the pronotum, anterior edge of pronotum strongly concave; (3) Last sternite anterior margin nearly equal to base of abdomen.

Compared with the genus Psacodromeus Ponomarenko, 1977 from Late-Jurassic of South Kazakhstan, the new genus has a distinct teardrop-shaped body and much shorter antennae.

Compared with the genus Karatoma Ponomarenko, 1977 from Late-Jurassic of South Kazakhstan, the new species has the following unique characters: (1) Elytra smooth, without large irregularly distributed punctures; (2) Antennae shorter and thicker; (3) Metasternum, distance between middle and hind coxae longer than middle coxae; (4) Length of head including mandibles nearly equal to width of head capsule.

The new genus differs from the genus Karadromeus Ponomarenko, 1977 from Late-Jurassic of South Kazakhstan by the following features: (1) Pronotum cordiform, widest at about anterior one-fifth of the pronotum, anterior edge of pronotum strongly concave; (2) Hind coxae strong, transverse.

Compared with the genus Eodromeus Ponomarenko, 1977 from Early Cretaceous of Trans-Baikal, the new species has these unique characters: Pronotum cordiform, widest at about anterior one-fifth of the pronotum, anterior edge of pronotum strongly concave; base of pronotum with similar width as base of elytra.

According to the fossil record in the family Trachypachidae , there are two genera: Beipiaocarabus Hong, 1983 and Xinbinia Hong, 1983, described from Liaoning Province.

The new genus differs from the genus Beipiaocarabus Hong, 1983 from Middle-Jurassic of Haifanggou Formation by the following features:(1) Body larger, length 10 mm, width 3.5 mm; (2) Pronotum cordiform, widest at about anterior one-fifth of the pronotum, anterior edge of pronotum strongly concave, with width 3.1 mm, posterior edge straight, width 2.1 mm, base of pronotum with similar width as base of elytra.

Compared with the genus Xinbinia Hong, 1983 from Middle-Jurassic of Houjiatun Formation has these unique characters: Pronotum cordiform, widest at about anterior one-fifth of the pronotum, anterior edge of pronotum strongly concave, with width 3.1 mm, posterior edge straight, width 2.1 mm, base of pronotum with similar width as base of elytra.