Euconnus (Cladoconnus) pingpong, Jałoszyński, 2024

Jałoszyński, Paweł, 2024, Subgenera Cladoconnus Reitter and Tetramelus Motschulsky of Euconnus Thomson discovered in China (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae), Zootaxa 5514 (3), pp. 232-256 : 234-235

Euconnus (Cladoconnus) pingpong sp. nov.

( Figs 1, 3 , 5–8 )

Material studied. Holotype: ♂ ( CHINA: Gansu): "CHINA: S-Gansu [ CH2-09 ] / W-Qinling Shan , 101 km NW Longnan, / 34°03’14’’N, 104°10’00’’E, 2200 m, / SW-slope with shrubs, litter sifted / 1.VIII.2012, leg. M. Schülke " [white, printed], " EUCONNUS / ( CLADOCONNUS ) / pingpong m. / P. Jałoszyński, 2024 / HOLOTYPUS " [red, printed] ( MNHB).

Diagnosis. Ventral plate of median lobe shaped like table tennis paddle, with slender distal ‘handle’ and broad proximal part; endophallus with three asymmetrical sclerites, of which one is extremely long and projecting from ostium, while two others are extremely short and situated in proximal region of endophallus, in ventral view left long sclerite is nearly straight except hook-like curved apex, left short sclerite is simple, situated at base of long sclerite and directed mesally and slightly distally, and right short sclerite is bifurcate Y-shaped with both apices directed distally and slightly laterally and with its proximal stalk touching base of long left sclerite.

Description. Body of male ( Fig. 1 ) elongate but moderately slender, moderately convex, with long appendages, BL 1.68 mm; cuticle glossy, pigmentation dark brown, head and pronotum indistinctly darker than elytra, vestiture of setae light brown.

Head in dorsal view round, broadest across eyes, HL 0.30 mm, HW 0.33 mm; tempora in dorsal view nearly twice as long as eyes, but in lateral view each temple subequal to longest diameter of eye; vertex and frons confluent, weakly and evenly convex, vertex slightly bulging posterodorsally; supraantennal tubercles small but distinctly elevated. Eyes moderately large, coarsely faceted, distinctly but not strongly projecting laterally from head silhouette, in lateral view oval. Punctures on vertex and frons inconspicuous, small and sparse; setae short and sparse, suberect, thick bristles present on vertex and tempora. Antennae ( Fig. 3 ) slender, about as long as half BL, AnL 0.90 mm; antennomeres 1–2 each elongate, 3 indistinctly elongate, 4–7 each about as long as broad, 8 modified, at base broader than 7, elongate, with its mesal margin straight and with strongly projecting mesal proximal corner, mesal distal corner not projecting, antennomere 9 modified, as long as 8, with its mesal margin indistinctly concave and its mesal distal corner distinctly projecting, 10 distinctly shorter than 9, about as long as broad, 11 longer than 10 but slightly shorter than 9–10 combined, about twice as long as broad.

Pronotum broadest in front of middle, PL 0.40 mm, PW 0.36 mm; anterior margin arcuate, lateral margins rounded in anterior half and sinuate in posterior half, posterior corners slightly obtuse-angled, blunt. Pronotal base with narrow indistinct median longitudinal wrinkle flanked by pair of large pits, each posterior corner with short and fine sublateral carina and pit between carina and lateral margin. Punctures on pronotal disc inconspicuous; setae moderately dense and long, suberect and mixed with thick bristles.

Elytra oval, broadest slightly in front of middle, EL 0.98 mm, EW 0.73 mm, EI 1.34; elongate adsutural area in anterior third slightly impressed; basal impressions deep, humeral calli prominent, elytral apices separately rounded. Punctures on elytral disc inconspicuous, superficial; setae longer than those on pronotum, moderately dense and suberect to erect. Hind wings long, functional.

Legs long and slender, unmodified.

Aedeagus ( Figs 5–8 ) stout, drop-shaped, AeL 0.38 mm; median lobe broadest near middle, rapidly narrowed in distal half, with dorsal apical plate elongate subtriangular with nearly straight lateral margins in distal region; ventral apical plate shaped like table tennis paddle, with broad proximal part and slender abruptly delimited distal ‘handle’ broadly rounded at apex; endophallus with three asymmetrical sclerites, of which one is extremely long and projecting from ostium, while two others are extremely short and situated in proximal region of endophallus, in ventral view left long sclerite is nearly straight except hook-like curved apex, left short sclerite is simple, situated at base of long sclerite and directed mesally and slightly distally, and right short sclerite is bifurcate Y-shaped with both apices directed distally and slightly laterally and with its proximal stalk touching base of long left sclerite. Setae on dorsal wall short and visible only in lateral view ( Fig. 8 ); parameres broad and short, slightly broadened in subapical region, each with two long apical setae.

Female. Unknown.

Distribution. Central China: SE Gansu.

Etymology. The name pingpong (noun in apposition) refers to the ventral plate of the aedeagus shaped like a table tennis paddle.

Remarks. Eastern Palaearctic species of Cladoconnus are externally difficult or impossible to identify, but the aedeagus of each strongly differs from those of all remaining species. The aedeagus of E. pingpong is the only one with a ping pong paddle-shaped ventral plate. This species has the aedeagus strongly differing from those in the Eastern Palaearctic E. ussuriensis species group ( Jałoszyński 2019b).

Figures

FIGURES 1–4. Euconnus (Cladoconnus) pingpong sp. nov. (1, 3) and E. (Cladoconnus) sagittarius sp. nov. (2, 4), males. Habitus in dorsal view (1, 2), and left antenna in dorsal view (3, 4).

FIGURES 5–12. Euconnus (Cladoconnus) pingpong sp. nov. (5–8) and E. (Cladoconnus) sagittarius sp. nov. (9–12). Aedeagus in ventral (5, 7, 9, 11) and lateral (6, 8, 10, 12) views.