Micropeneta qilin Li & Jiang, 2019

Li, Bo-Yan & Jiang, Ri-Xin, 2019, Discovery of the genus Micropeneta Pic in China, with description of a new species (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Gnathidiini), Zootaxa 4608 (1), pp. 196-200 : 197-199

Micropeneta qilin Li & Jiang , sp. n. ( Figs 1 , 2 )

Type material (6 exs). Holotype: CHINA: ♂, labeled ‘China: Guizhou, Kaili City (m¶ṁ), Leishan County ( ḆƜH) , Leigong Mountain ( ḆẌƜ) , Leishan forest farm ( ḆƜẆḴ) , H: 1300 m, 26.02.2015, in rotten wood, Bo-Yan Li leg.’ ( GUGC) . Paratypes: CHINA: 2 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀, same label data as the holotype ( GUGC) .

Description. Male ( Fig. 1A ). Body reddish brown, length 4.03–4.32 mm. Head ( Figs 2A, 2C ) trapezoidal, wider than long, HL 0.41–0.44 mm, HW 1.13–1.17, finely punctured, with pair of strongly developed and posteriorly bent lateral horns and pair of short subtriangular anterior projection; clypeus sparsely punctated, with slightly cambered anterior margin; eyes small, not visible in dorsal view. Antenna with 11 antennomeres, club formed by four apical antennomeres; antennomere I elagred, longer than wide, II and IV wider than long, III about as long as wide, V and VI slightly dilated, wider than long, antennomere VII–X strongly dilated, X short-oval about as long as wide; AnL 0.87–0.89 mm. Pronotum ( Fig. 2B ) transversely subquadrate, widest near middle, PL 1.09–1.13, PW 1.87–1.98; sparsely covered with coarse and distinct punctures, distinctly bordered, irregularly and sparsely serrated; disc convex, with pair of blunt and rounded anterior projection at middle. Elytra ( Fig. 2D ) longer than wide, EL 2.53–2.75 mm, EW 1.94–1.96 mm, strongly convex, sides subparallel, irregularly and sparsely serrated laterally, covered with sparse and short setae; each elytron with eight irregular rows composed on dense and coarse punctures; first seven intervals with row of delicate and sparse punctures. Tibiae with dense patch of hairs near apex; other leg parts simple without specific modifications. Aedeagus simple and slender ( Figs 2 E–F).

Female. Similar to male in general appearance; head without modification, eyes visible in dorsal view. Pronotum convex and lacking projection. Sternite VIII ( Fig. 2G ) oval, posterior margins with several long hair; spiculum ( Fig. 2G ) tortuous at middle, apex oval and dilated. Apex of ovipositor ( Fig. 2H ) with several long hair. Measurements: BL 4.11–4.19 mm, HL 0.44–0.50 mm, HW 1.09–1.15 mm, PL 1.02–1.09 mm, PW 1.78–1.96 mm, EL 2.60–2.65 mm, EW 1.92–2.04 mm, AnL 0.87–0.89 mm.

Comparative Notes. The new species is most similar to M. tarandus and M. leytica , they share similar strongly developed and posteriorly horns on head, but can be separated by the different body size (5.00– 5.50 mm in male of M. tarandus and 5.00 mm in male of M. leytica ), form and length of the horns and the aedeagal morphology. Horns on the heads of M. tarandus and M. leytica are situated more posteriorly. Moreover, M. tarandus possess much longer horns than the new species, while M. leytica lacks the modification of pronotum. Aedeagus of M. leytica is evidently narrower than that of the new species.

Distribution. China: Guizhou.

Biology. All adults were collected from wettish rotten wood (Figs 4 A–B).

Etymology. The specific epithet ‘qilin’ is a kind of horned auspicious beast in Chinese ancient myth.

Comments. The genus Micropeneta is similar to the Palaearctic Asian Gnathidiini genus Enanea Lewis, 1894 , in the horned head, similar general appearance and same ecological requirements. The genus Enanea ( Ando 2005; Masumoto et al. 2019) includes four known species and all of them possess a pair of simple thin horns on head, while the horns in Micropeneta are usually strongly developed and much complicated.

Figures

FIGURE 1. habitus of Micropeneta qilin. A. Male; B. Female. Scale bars: 1 mm.

FIGURE 2. Diagnostic features of Micropeneta qilin (A–F. Male; G–H. Female). A. Head, in dorsal view; B. Pronotum, in dorsal view; C. Head in lateral view; D. Elytra; E. Aedeagus, in ventral view; F. Same, in lateral view; G. Sternite VIII and Spiculum; H. Ovipositor. Scale bars: 0.2 mm in A, C and E–G; 0.5 mm in B; 1mm in D; 0.1mm in H.