Bietia naxiorum, Jákl & Král & Kubáň, 2010

Jákl, Stanislav, Král, David & Kubáň, Vítězslav, 2010, A review of the genus Bietia with a description of a new species from Yunnan, China (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae: Goliathini), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 50 (2), pp. 517-528 : 520-524

Bietia naxiorum sp. nov.

( Figs. 1, 2 , 5–10 )

Type locality. Southwestern China, northwestern Yunnan province, Jinsha river valley, 5 km western of Dajuxiang, 27°17′50″N 100°12′10″E, 1850–1880 m a.s.l. (see the Collecting circumstances below).

Type material. CHINA: YUNNAN: HOLOTYPE: J ( NMPC), ‘ China, Yunnan prov. / 27°18′N 100°13′E / Jinsha riv. 1950–2050m, / DAJU 15.–17.VII.1990 / Vít Kubáň leg. [p] ’. ALLOTYPE: ♀ ( NMPC), ‘ China N-YUNNAN / 27°18′N 100°13′E / Jinsha r. vall . 1900m, / DAJU, HUTIAO gorge, / lgt. D. Král 15–17/7ʼ90.’ [p] . PARATYPES (122 JJ, 75 ♀♀): same data as holotype (3 JJ, NMPC; 3 JJ, SJCP) ; same data as allotype (2 JJ 1 ♀, DKCP; 1 ♀, NMPC; 8 JJ 3 ♀♀, SJCP) ; ‘ CHINA SW, NW Yunnan prov., / Jinsha riv. valley, 27°17′50″N / 100°12′10″E, 1850–1880 m, / DAJU (5km W), / 8.vii.1992, Vít. Kubáň leg.’ [p] (2 JJ, DKCP, NMPC) ; ‘ CHINA SW, NW Yunnan prov., / 27°20′N 100°11′E, / Habaxueshan mts. , SE slope, / HABA vill. (4.5km SSE), / 2500–2550 m, 12.vii.1992, / Vít. Kubáň leg.’ [p] (2 JJ, BMNH; 2 JJ 2 ♀♀, KNCT; 2 JJ, MNHN; 10 JJ 6 ♀♀, NMPC; 34 JJ 25 ♀♀, SJCP; 2 JJ, ZMHB) ; same data but: ‘ David Král leg.’ (48 JJ 34 ♀♀, DKCP; 1 J 1 ♀ ZFMK) ; ‘ CHINA SW, / NW Yunnan prov., / Haba snow Peak , / viii.1991, 3000 m, / E. Quéinnec leg.’ [p] (1 ♀, DKCP) ; ‘ CHINA N.W. YUNNAN / Haba mts, E slope / Way from San Ba to Ha Ba / and Daju h= 2500–3000 m / 8–9.VII. 1998 leg. S. Murzin’ [p] (1 J, SJCP) ; ‘ Yunnan / 26.6.2007 ; China / Tiger Leaping Gorge / S of Shangri-La ; Qiaotou / T. Tichý ; 2100–2600m’ [p] (2 JJ 1 ♀, MKCP) .

Description of holotype. Body length 14.6 mm, maximum humeral width 7.2 mm. Ovalshaped, rather flat, dorsal surface blackish, slightly shining ( Fig. 1 ).

Head. Black, almost parallel, weakly widened at apex. Punctation dense and uniform. Diameters of punctures larger than their interspaces. Lateral margins elevated but not distinctly bordered, latero-apical margins obtusely rounded. Apex of clypeus elevated, without distinct emargination. Frons with moderate purple reflection. Antennae dark brown with yellowish setation. Antennal club not elongated, shorter than stalk.

Pronotum. Black with moderate purple lustre, sharply narrowed anteriorly, especially in the anterior fourth. Punctation distinctly developed, sparser than on head, except for postero-lateral margins, where it is denser than on head; diameters of punctures smaller than on head; most of punctures circular, punctures near postero-lateral and lateral margins semicir- cular and more densely arranged, almost confluent. Lateral border obtuse but distinct almost throughout the length. Lateral margin shallowly emarginate in posterior third. Pronotal base with two indistinct impressions.

Scutellar shield. Black, triangular, densely punctate on most of its surface except for a narrow midline.

Elytra. Running almost parallelly, rather flat. Coloration blackish. Six obtuse and wide costae run from elytral base almost to the level of apical calli on each elytron. Intervals narrow, irregularly punctate. Sutural ridge flat, weakly elevated in apical third, apex not protruding over elytron apex. Humeral calli indistinct, blackish. Apical calli obtuse. Posthumeral emargination not markedly sharp.

Pygidium. Black, with fine lustre. Uniformly, finely wrinkled throughout the whole surface. Covered with short, fine yellowish setae.

Ventrum. Black to dark brown, shining. Wrinkled laterally, median part with punctation; punctures of different sizes, mainly circular. Yellowish setation present throughout the length of abdominal ventrites 1–6, setation of ventrites 2–4 limited to few setae in median part of each ventrite. Abdominal ventrites 2–4 with two impressions laterally. Medial furrow distinct, but not deep. Lateral declivity prominent. Metaventrite black, uniformly and densely wrinkled, completely covered with long yellow setae. Median part of metaventrite with rather sharp, deep furrow. Meso-metaventral process short, obtusely terminated. Prosternum, mesepimeron and mentum wrinkled and covered with long yellowish setae.

Legs. Black, slender, elongate (goliathine-type shaped, see KRIKKEN (1984)). Protibia bidentate, posterior tooth (3) indistinct. Meso- and metatibia with carina in the apical half, bearing yellowish setae on inner side. Femora dark brown, covered with yellowish setation. Tarsi gracile, elongate.

Male genitalia. Simply developed with paramere parallel-sided ( Figs. 7, 8 ).

Sexual dimorphism. Females differ from males as follows: generally much more robust and wider than males, body more convex ( Fig. 2 ); antennae and legs much shorter than in males; setation of ventral side usually not so abundant as in males, abdomen very convex.

Variability. Body length: males 12.1–14.8 mm, females 12.2–18.0 mm. Pronotum always black, elytral coloration varying from black to almost brick red. Protibia in some males distinctly tridentate. Punctation, microsculpture and setation of whole surface invariable.

Differential diagnosis. Bietia naxiorum sp. nov. can be easily distinguished from both other representatives of the genus, B. rudicollis and B. simillima , by the following characters: (1) setation of the dorsal surface absent, (2) each elytron with six more or less well-marked costae (only two well-marked costae are present on each elytron in B. rudicollis and B. simillima ), (3) punctation of elytra fine with many glabrous parts, especially at the costae (elytra completely granulate and microsculptured in the other two species), (4) setation on abdominal ventrites shorter and less abundant (ventrites covered with long yellowish setae in both other species), (5) meso-metaventral process glabrous, shining (covered with setae at least at apex in B. rudicollis and B. simillima ), (6) paramere simple, parallel-sided, apex of paramere, especially its external part, obtusely rounded (in B. rudicollis and B. simillima , the base of paramere is much wider than its apical part, rather sharply narrowing from base to approximately 0.75 of paramere length, with emargination on outer side of paramere apex and internal part slightly protruding, forming a tooth).

Etymology. Patronymic; dedicated to the Naxi tribe people inhabiting northern Yunnan where the new species has been discovered.

Distribution. China, Yunnan province, Habaxueshan and Yulongxueshan Mts.

Collecting circumstances. The label data attached to the specimens collected at the type locality are too general and we therefore provide here more precise locality data for the specimens. The type locality is situated 5 km west of Dajuxiang, at coordinates 27°17′50″N 100°12′10″E and altitudes of 1850–1880 m a.s.l. on the northern slope of the Yulongxueshan Mts. (see Fig. 5 , the place is marked with an arrow). The label data provided for the second locality (Habaxueshan Mts.) are precise. A series of specimens collected at the type locality in 1990 (holotype, allotype and 21 paratypes) were caught right at dusk flying about 20–50 cm above the ground among low and sparsely distributed shrubs. Two paratypes collected at the same locality in 1992 were captured in flight between 3– 4 p. m. after a rain. A series of specimens from Habaxueshan Mts. collected in 1992 were captured during day hours in a sparse forest consisting predominantly of Pinus sp. and Quercus sp. ( Fig. 6 ) – a large number of specimens (ca. 160) was found burrowed maximally ca. 10 cm deep in the soil mixed with excrements of larvae of scarabaeoid beetles (most probably of Bietia naxiorum sp. nov. itself), and a few of these specimens were collected also under a large pile of old and almost dry horse dung close to this locality (see Figs. 7–8 for the beetles digged out from the soil).

Figures

Figs. 1–4. Habitus, dorsal view. 1 – Bietia naxiorum sp. nov., holotype; 2 – B. naxiorum sp. nov., allotype; 3 – B. rudicollis Fairmaire, 1898 (non-type specimen, MNHN); 4 – B. simillima Fairmaire, 1898 (non-type specimen, MNHN).

Figs. 5–8. 5 – type locality of Bietia naxiorum sp. nov.: Jinsha river valley, 5 km west of Dajuxiang, 1850–1880 m (a view from the Habaxueshan Mts. to the northern slope of the Yulongxueshan Mts.); 6 – habitat of B. naxiorum sp. nov. on the southeastern slope of the Habaxueshan Mts. (12.vii.1992). 7, 8 – adults of B. naxiorum sp. nov. with scarabaeid larval excrements among which they were burrowed (Habaxueshan Mts., 12.vii.1992) (7 – male paratype, 8 – female paratype). Photos: D. Král.

Figs. 9–14. Parameres (9, 11, 13 – dorsal view; 10, 12, 14 – lateral view). 9, 10 – Bietia naxiorum sp. nov., holotype; 11, 12 – B. rudicollis Fairmaire, 1898 (non-type specimen, MNHN); 13, 14 – B. simillima Fairmaire, 1898 (non-type specimen, MNHN).