Cimmeritodes (Zhecimmerites) parvus Tian & Li

Fang, Jie, Li, Wenbo & Tian, Mingyi, 2016, Occurrence of cavernicolous ground beetles in Anhui Province, eastern China (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Trechinae), ZooKeys 625, pp. 99-110 : 101-104

Taxon classification Animalia Coleoptera Carabidae

Cimmeritodes (Zhecimmerites) parvus Tian & Li sp. n. Figs 1, 2, 3

Material.

Holotype, male, Ziwei Dong (also called Shuangjing Dong) Cave, Chaohu Shi, 31.6479N, 117.8632E, 83 m altitude, IV-21-2015, leg. Yunhe Wu and Wenbo Li, deposited in the insect collections of South China Agricultural University(SCAU), Guangzhou. Paratypes: one male and three females, ibid., deposited in SCAU and the animal collections of Anhui University(ANU), Hefei, respectively.

Additional material.

One male, Cave Xianren Dong, suburbs of southern Chaohu Shi, 31.4633N, 117.8413E, 110 m altitude, IV-27-2015, leg. Yunhe Wu and Wenbo Li, deposited in SCAU; one female, Boshan Dong Cave, Xiaboshan, 38 km SW of the main town of Wuwei County, 31.1851N, 117.5582E, 28 m altitude, IV-28-2015, leg. Yunhe Wu and Wenbo Li, deposited in SCAU; two males, Qingtai Dong Cave, Qingtaishan, NW Shijian Zhen, Wuwei County, 31.5330N, 117.0244E, 79 m altitude, IV-22-2015, leg. Yunhe Wu and Wenbo Li, deposited in SCAU; one female, Boshan Dong Cave, Xiaboshan, Shushan Zhen, Wuwei County, 31.1851N, 117.5582E, 28 m altitude, IV-28-2015, leg. Yunhe Wu and Wenbo Li, in SCAU.

Diagnosis.

Small-sized, anophthalmic trechine beetles, with yellowish brown and stout body, short antennae and legs, fore body distinctly shorter than elytra.

Description.

Length: 3.0-3.7 mm, including mandibles (or 2.8-3.5 mm, excluding mandibles); width: 1.0 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 1.

Small-sized trechine species. Body yellowish brown and palps, antennae, and tarsi pale; moderately shiny; finely pubescent though frons; vertex, ventral head, and prosternum glabrous; micro sculptural meshes moderately isodiametric on head, moderately transverse on pronotum, and strongly transverse on elytra. Mandibles much shorter than elytra, EL/(HLm + PnL) = 2.31, in the front part of the body

HLm/HW = 1.22, HLl/HW = 0.94, right mandible tridentate, median mandible reduced; labial suture absent; submentum 6-setose; mentum bisetose, without basal pits; tooth short, bifid at apex; palps short and stout; labial palpomere 2 longer than 3, which is very thin, bisetose on inner margin, with two or three additional setae at the subapex; palpomere 3 much more slender than 2; maxillary palpomeres 3 and 4 subequal in length; ligula short and rounded at apex, 8-setose. Antennae short, extending to the middle of the elytra.

Pronotum transverse, PnL/PnW = 0.83, wider than the head, PnW/HW = 1.24, shorter than the head (including mandibles), HLm/PnL = 1.19, or as long as the head (excluding mandibles); disc moderately convex; pronotum widest at about 1/3 from the apex, fore and hind lateromarginal setae located just before the widest point and the hind angle, respectively; fore angles rounded, basal angles sharp; pronotum base narrower than front, PfW/PbW = 1.12; front almost straight, base nearly straight medially, obtusely sinuate near hind angles. Scutellum small and short.

Elytra elongate, thin, moderately convex, much longer than wide, EL/EW =1.74, sides ciliated, gently expanded laterally, widest near the middle, evenly narrowed towards the base and the subapex; elytra base wide, shoulders rounded; disc moderately convex, deeply striated, apical striae well-marked, intervals slightly convex; basal pore present; anterior dorsal pore located on 3rd stria at about 2/9 of the base, middle pore on the 4th interval, a little behind the middle of the elytra; pre-apical pore located exactly at the end of the 4th stria, at about 1/7 of elytra apex, subequal to the apex and to the suture; humeral group of marginal umbilicate series equidistant, both pores of the middle group closely located.

Legs moderately long, covered with dense and short hairs; protarsi short, 1st tarsomere slightly wider than the others, as long as the 2nd and 3rd combined, 4th protarsomere as long as wide; 1st tarsomere as long as, or longer than 2nd - 4th tarsomere combined in meso- and metatarsi, respectively. Ventrites IV–VI bearing a pair of paramedian setae; ventrite VII 4-setose in female, but bisetose in male.

Male genitalia (Fig. 2): median lobe of the aedeagus well-sclerotized, small and thin, strongly curved ventrally in the middle, gradually narrowed towards the apex, which is blunt; base moderately large, sagittal aileron small and thin, inner sac provided with a short and very thin copulatory piece, which is about one fifth of the aedeagus in length; in dorsal view, apical lobe short and broad; parameres elongate and thin, subequal, each armed with four (right paramere) and three (left paramere) long setae at apex.

Remarks.

Similar to Cimmeritodes (Zhecimmerites) zhejiangensis Deuve & Tian, 2015, which occurs in eastern Zhejiang Province, but with different male genital structures. Specifically, in Cimmeritodes (Zhecimmerites) parvus , the median lobe is distinctly curved, and shorter and stouter than in Cimmeritodes (Zhecimmerites) zhejiangensis .

Etymology.

Indicates the small-sized body of this new species.

Distribution.

China (Anhui) (Fig. 3). Xianren Dong Cave is a well-developed cave, approximately 450 m in length. Numerous stalactites and white peonies are found within the cave. Ziwei Dong Cave is a typical subterranean river cave, more than 3,000 m long. It is a show cave with uneven ground and numerous stalactites. Boshan Dong Cave is approximately 500 m long and has an uneven and complex tunnel. It is also a show cave, containing stone flowers and waterfalls. Qingtai Dong Cave is approximately 4,000 m in length, has a deep and long tunnel and a unique and outstanding interior. Beetle specimens were sampled from the ground surfaces of the caves, which were covered with litter and/or bat guano.