Stenohelops (Stenomaleis) chinensis, Nabozhenko, Maxim & Ando, Kiyoshi, 2018

Nabozhenko, Maxim & Ando, Kiyoshi, 2018, Subtribal, Generic And Subgeneric Composition Of Darkling Beetles Of The Tribe Helopini (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) In The Eastern Palaearctic Region, Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 64 (4), pp. 277-327 : 291-292

Stenohelops (Stenomaleis) chinensis sp. n.

( Figs 4L–O ; 6 )

Type material. Holotype (m) and one paratype (f) ( CSB): China, Sichuan Pr.,

Abazhou: Nanping: Jizhaigou, 2000 m, 8–13.vi.1991 (leg. C. Holzschuh).

Male. Body slender, shiny, brown, with weak bronze tinge. Head straight at anterior margin of frontoclypeus; lateral margins distinctly emarginate between genae and frontoclypeus; genae with lateral margin angulate, strongly rounded at middle; eyes large, convex, obliquely transverse, with projected lower side; punctures on head coarse and dense, round and connected with each other at middle of frons; vertex very coarsely and densely punctured; gular area with transverse wrinkles and recumbent short setae; ratio of the width at eye level to interocular distance 1.52; ratio of the width at eye level to genal level 1.09. Mentum with small longitudinal convexity in anterior part of middle. Antennae long, with five apical antennomeres extending beyond base of pronotum, reaching middle of elytra. Comparative length of antennomeres II–XI as following: 0.8: 2.8: 1.9: 1.8: 2.1: 2.1: 2.3: 2.1: 2.1: 2.6; ultimate antennomere weakly banana-shaped.

Pronotum cordate, weakly transverse (1.16 times as wide as long), 1.4 times as wide as head; lateral margins weakly rounded, emarginate just before base; anterior margin widely weakly rounded; base also weakly rounded and sinuate at middle; all margins finely beaded except for middle of anterior margin; disc moderately convex, with flattened lateral sides, with punctures coarse and dense as on head, elongate on sides. Prosternum before procoxae with coarse and sparse punctures (diameter of the puncture subequal to interpuncture distance); prosternal process weakly convex, beaded. Prothoracic hypomera with longitudinal wrinkles.

Scutellum strongly transverse, with rounded margins. Elytra elongate, widest at middle, twice as long as pronotum, 1.68 times as wide as head, 1.2 times as wide as and 2.88 times as long as pronotum; strial punctures merged in entire deep furrows; interstriae convex, transversely wrinkled in basal two-thirds and flattened in apical third, with very fine and sparse punctures.

Mesepimera, mes- and metepisterna and metaventrite with coarse, moderately dense punctures, diameter of the puncture 1.5 times as long as interpuncture distance. Abdominal ventrites with coarse and dense punctures such as on metaventrite, but a little smaller. Abdominal ventrite 5 with recumbent hairs apically.

Legs slender; pro- and mesotibiae straight; metatibiae weakly curved. Protarsomeres I–IV moderately widened; mesotarsi weakly widened; metatarsi not widened.

Body length 8.4 mm, width 3.0 mm.

Female. Body with stronger bronze tinge. Antennae shorter, only four apical antennomeres extending beyond base of pronotum, reaching basal one-fourth of elytral length. Pronotum more convex, weakly flattened at sides. Elytra wider in base, with all interstriae flat. Tarsi not widened. Body length 10.9 mm, width 4.2 mm.

Etymology. Named after the country of China.

Differential diagnosis. This species differs from all known Stenohelops by flattened lateral sides of pronotal disc.

Figures

Fig. 4. Asiatic species of the subtrube Helopina (Tenebrionidae: Helopini), details of structure. Apterotarpela clypealis (A–F), Catomus solitarius (G–K), Stenohelops chinensis (L–O): A, G, L = aedeagus, ventral view, B, H, M = aedeagus, lateral view, C, I, N, O = median lobe

Fig. 6. Stenohelops chinensis sp.n., habitus: A = male, holotype, B = female, paratype