Euscelophilus longispinus Xie & Liang

Xie, Meng & Liang, Xingcai, 2008, Three new species of the genus Euscelophilus Voss (Coleoptera: Attelabidae) from China, Zootaxa 1808, pp. 33-43 : 35-36

Euscelophilus longispinus Xie & Liang , sp. n.

( Figs. 1 , 4 A–H)

Description. Male (figs. 1, 4). Length 7.2–7.3 mm. Coloration and vestiture: black, except abdomen dark brown; head, thorax and elytra covered with sparse, soft, golden hairs; antennae, prosternum, mesepisternum, mesepimeron and scutellum with similar but denser setation. Head (figs. 4A, B) elongate, with dense punctures and strong sculpture, constricted at basal 1/5. Rostrum slightly longer than broad, with variously sized punctures. Antennae (fig. 4C) inserted close to eyes as typical in genus; scape robust, cylindrical; 1st funicular segment elongate, 3/4 as long as scape; 2nd and 3rd slightly shorter than 1st but narrower and slender; 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th globular, increasingly inflated; club robust, 2nd segment as long as 1st, 3rd and 4th segments fused. Area between antennal insertions forming a blunt tumour. Frons weakly concave between eyes. Eyes hemispherical, moderately convex, dorsally separated by more than their width. Frontal ridge pronounced but smooth, with lateral ridges in apical 1/3, forming a distinct, straight, fine, median furrow in basal 2/3. Prothorax 1.4x broader than long, broadest at base, roundly narrowed anteriorly, strongly sculptured. Pronotal disc with a smooth, longitudinal, median double ridge from basal 1/6 to apical 1/6, glabrous; laterally with an interrupted longitudinal groove; anteriorly and posteriorly transversely depressed, anterior depression continuous but posterior one divided into three; also two V-shaped dimples adjacent to median ridge, without hair. Remaining area of prothorax rugose, ridges glabrous and grooves mostly pilose. Scutellum trapezoidal, 1.8x broader than long, covered with golden hairs except for rough median process. Elytra subrectangular, about 1.3x longer than broad, with lateral margins subparallel, slightly dilated posteriorly; striae and intervals irregular; punctures wide and deep, almost round at the base of elytra but partially confluent in posterior half; posterior half of 2nd, entire 4th and basal half of 6th interval forming three curved glabrous ridges; a pair of blunt protuberances at scutellum and another at each humerus, humeri prominent; fossae partly pilose, a line of hairs in posterior half of sutural ridge. Legs (fig. 4E). Femora moderately strong, asymmetrically clavate, straight and slender in basal 1/3. Front femur about 1.5x longer than middle and hind femora, smooth, ventrally with two apical spines, distal one small and short, proximal one long and sharp; middle and hind femora clavate, with two small spines. Front tibia longer than others, slightly curved, thin and narrow, ventrally with a row of equidistant denticles each bearing a tiff seta, dorsal contour smooth, with a single, stout uncus; middle tibia shortest, slightly compressed, weakly bisinuate, dorsal contour with rounded lobe. Abdomen (fig. 4D) subrectangular, a little broader than long; sides almost parallel, apically weakly rounded. Ventrites 1 to 4 finely and sparsely punctuate in middle, densely wrinkled at sides; 5 very short, with punctures and a line of hairs at apical margin. Pygidium with a straight median line and laterally covered with dense punctures. Genitalia as in figs. 4F–H. Female differing from male, except in primary sexual characters, only as follows: slightly larger (length 7.9 mm); proximal spine of front femur short and blunt; all tibiae with two unci.

Material examined. Holotype male: CHINA: Guizhou Province (Daozhen County, sanqiaozhen), 27- May-2004, Yang Yu Coll. (HBU); paratypes: 1 female, same data; 1 male, 1 female CHINA: Guizhou Province (Daozhen County, dashahe), 17-August-2004, Xiu-juan Yang Coll. (HBU); 1 male, CHINA: Guizhou Province (Leishan County, fangxiang), 15-September-2005, Ji-liang Wang Coll. (HBU); 1 male, CHINA: Guizhou Province (Daozhen County, yuheba), 25-May-2004, Yang Yu Coll. (HBU); 1 female, CHINA: Guizhou Province (Daozhen County, xiannüdong), 17-August-2004, Xiu-juan Yang Coll. (HBU); 1 female, CHINA: Guangxi Province (Luocheng County, pingying), 27-September-2003, Xiu-juan Yang Coll. (HBU); 1 male, CHINA: Guangxi Province (Leye County, yachang), 26-July-2004, Yang Yu Coll. (HBU); 1 female, CHINA: Chongqing City (Jiangjin County, dawopu), 3-August-2003, Cai-xia Yuan Coll. (HBU); 1 female, CHINA: Chongqing City (Jiangjin County, dahonghai), 5-August-2003, Cai-xia Yuan Coll. (HBU); 1 male, CHINA: Chongqing City (Nanchuan County, jinfoshan), 7-July-2003, Cai-xia Yuan Coll. (HBU).

Etymology. The name longispinus refers to the diagnostic, long and sharp, subapical ventral spine of the front femur ( Fig. 4 E) in the male.

Distribution. P. R. China: Guizhou, Guangxi, Chongqing.

Notes. In the shape and sculpture of the prothorax, E. longispinus is most similar to E. niger Liang , but it can be distinguished from the former as follows: first three funicular segments subequal, 3rd not shorter than 2nd; head constricted at basal 1/5; front femur with two apical spines, the proximal one long and sharp; covered only with sparse golden hair observed. The constriction of the head is also a distinguishing character from other species of the genus.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Structural details of Euscelophilus longispinus Xie & Liang sp. n .. A, head, dorsal aspect; B, head, lateral aspect; C, antenna; D, venter; E, front leg; F, aedeagus and tegmen, ventral aspect; G. aedeagus and tegmen, lateral aspect; H. spiculum gastrale. Scale bars = 1.0 mm for figs. A – E; 0.5 mm for figs. F – H.

FIGURES 1 – 3. Dorsal habitus of new Euscelophilus species. 1, E. longispinus Xie & Liang sp. n. (male); 2, E. gaoligongensis Xie & Liang sp. n. (male); 3, E. caperratus Xie & Liang sp. n. (male).