Lesticus auripennis, Zhu, Pingzhou, Shi, Hongliang & Liang, Hongbin, 2018

Zhu, Pingzhou, Shi, Hongliang & Liang, Hongbin, 2018, Four new species of Lesticus (Carabidae, Pterostichinae) from China and supplementary comments on the genus, ZooKeys 782, pp. 129-162 : 129

Lesticus auripennis sp. n. Figs 1-4

Type locality.

China, Guangdong: Nanling (24.93°N, 112.99°E), altitude 1587 m.

Type material.

Holotype: male (IZAS), body length = 20.4 mm, board mounted, genitalia preserved in 100% ethanol in microvial pinned under specimen, "China, Guangdong / Ruyuan, Nanling / pitfall trap / 24.932039N, 112.996099E "; "1587m, 2017.VI.4-7 / Liu Y. Z. & Yu S. P. lgt., / Insititude of Zoology., CAS."; "HOLOTYPE♂ / Lesticus auripennis sp. n. / des. ZHU & SHI, 2018" [red label]. Paratypes (two males and six females): one male and one female (IZAS), the same data as holotype but labeled as paratype. One female (IZAS), "China, Guangdong / Ruyuan, Nanling / pitfall trap / 24.93077N, 112.994692E "; "1708m, 2017.VI.4-7 / Liu Y. Z. & Yu S. P. lgt., / Insititude of Zoology., CAS."; "PARATYPE♂ / Lesticus auripennis sp. n. / des. ZHU & SHI 2018" [red label]. One male and four females (SCAU), "Guangdong, Nanling 2008 / 24.9284N, 113.0163E / 1035m, pitfall trap, Gao Lei / South China Agriculture University"; "PARATYPE♂ / Lesticus auripennis sp. n. / des. ZHU & SHI 2018" [red label].

Diagnosis.

Pronotum completely black; elytra metallic green or purple; pronotal lateral margins slightly sinuate before posterior angles; pronotal basal fovea almost glabrous, with restricted and very fine punctures only; metepisternum short and wide, length subequal to its basal width, with coarse punctures.

Comparisons.

The new species is the only one among all Chinese Lesticus species with black pronotum and distinctly metallic elytra. Lesticus auripennis sp. n. is most similar to L. perniger and L. wrasei sharing the short, wide metepisternum with coarse punctures; pronotal lateral margins slightly sinuate before posterior angles; pronotal basal fovea shallowly incised; elytral intervals normal. The new species is distinguishable from the latter two species by elytra metallic color, restricted and very fine pronotal basal foveal punctures and a different shape of male genitalia. Median lobe of aedeagus of the new species is very similar to that of L. wrasei , but different in: (1) ventral margin slightly expanded near middle (versus completely straight); (2) apex a little less truncated; (3) in dorsal view, left margin slightly sinuate near middle (versus evenly curved).

Description.

Body length 19.5-23.8 mm, elytra’s greatest width 7.2-8.7 mm, both sexes with similar body forms. Head, pronotum, and appendage black and shining; maxillae, labial and maxillary palpomeres, lateral sides of labrum and terminal tarsomeres reddish brown; apical half of terminal palpomere yellow; elytra with strong metallic lustre, usually purple, in some individuals green; ventral side black. Head and pronotum with isodiametric microsculpture and minute punctures; elytra with isodiametric microsculpture.

Head glabrous, without coarse punctures; short and deep frontal depressions extended posterad to middle of eyes, with five to seven shallow longitudinal wrinkles behind frontal depression; anterior margin of labrum slightly emarginate; temporae slightly tumid behind eyes; antennal apex reaching elytra basal tenth.

Pronotum wider than head, PW/HW = 1.49-1.54, a little transverse, PW/PL = 1.24-1.38; pronotum widest near middle. Lateral margins not crenulate, curved in middle, slightly sinuate before posterior angles; posterior angles obtuse, apex rounded, not pointed outwards; posterior margin a little greater than anterior margin, extended slightly backward on each side. Median line shallow but distinct, not reaching posterior margin; disc almost glabrous, with a few shallow transverse wrinkles along median line at most. Basal fovea shallow but well defined; inner groove longer, approximately one-third length of pronotum; outer groove shorter, approximately one-fifth length of pronotum; basal foveal area with very fine punctures and wrinkles along inner and outer grooves, glabrous between inner and outer grooves.

Elytra oviform, EL/EW = 1.39-1.69, gradually widened to apex, widest at posterior third approximately; basal ridge complete, gradually curved, forming a distinct obtuse angle with elytral lateral margin, humeral teeth not pointed. Intervals barely convex; striae deeply incised, with very fine and sparse punctures alongside; scutellar stria short, apex free; parascutellar pore present; third interval with three setigerous pores: first one adjacent to third stria, the other two generally close to second stria (in a male paratype, third pore close to third stria); umbilicular series on ninth interval composed of 20-22 pores evenly spaced. Hind wings very small.

Ventral side: propleuron glabrous, without puncture or wrinkle; mesopleuron with a few coarse punctures on anterior half; metepisternum short and wide, length subequal to its basal width, with sparse and coarse punctures, usually 10-20, sometimes fewer; abdominal sterna glabrous on median portion, with few coarse punctures on lateral sides of sternum II and sometimes also sternum III, and very fine wrinkles on lateral sides of all sterna.

Legs: basal three metatarsomeres with distinct carina along almost full length of outer surface, fourth metatarsomeres with weaker carina only near base; fifth tarsomeres with 3-4 pairs of spines ventrally.

Male genitalia: median lobe of aedeagus with apical orifice opened dorsally; in lateral view, ventral margin slightly expanded in middle, apical portion straight, turned neither ventrally nor dorsally, basal portion slightly narrowed; in dorsal view, apical lamella very short, length approximately one-fourth basal width, apex rounded, slightly truncated; apical portion straight, oriented to neither left nor right. Endophallus (Fig. 4) short, extending to dorsal-left, major portion of endophallus on left-dorsal side of aedeagus when everted; gonopore (gp, gonopore lobe folded in Fig. 4) located at a little before apical lamella, oriented to aedeagal apex. Basal tubercle (bt) typical of genus; basal band (bb) elongated, extended from apical orifice to base of lb. Six distinct lobes recognized: dorsal lobe (dl) very large and rounded, on right-dorsal surface; one additional basal lobe (bl) present on basal-ventral surface, close to dl, large and rounded, placed near apical lamella, decorated with very fine and sparse scales; right basal lobe (rb) a little smaller than dl, close to bl, apex sharply pointed, apex with dense and fine scales; right apical lobe (ra) on ventral side of gp, small, decorated with fine scales; left basal lobe (lb) a little larger than dl, on dorsal-apical surface, apex with dense scales; left apical lobe (la) small, close to lb, apex sharply pointing out, decorated with fine scales.

Distribution.

This species is known only in Nanling, Guangdong (Map 1). The three localities of the type series are very close together.

Etymology.

The name “auripennis” is from Latin, “aur-” meaning colored and “pennis” meaning wing, referring to the elytra. This species is named for its distinctly metallic elytra.

Affinities.

Lesticus auripennis sp. n. is close to L. perniger , L. ater , L. wrasei , and L. fukiensis among Chinese Lesticus fauna, sharing their short, wide metepisterna and similar shapes of the pronotum. Outside China, there are two other species with these characters: L. ornatus Dubault, Lassalle & Roux (Chiang Mai, Thailand) and L. restrictus Dubault, Lassalle & Roux (Shan State, Myanmar). These seven species could be recognized as one species group, which can be distinguished from other species of Lesticus by: (1) short, wide metepisternum, length less than or subequal to its basal width; (2) elytra third interval with two or three setigerous pores; (3) pronotum completely black, with no trace of metallic; (4) pronotum subquadrate or a little cordifrom; (5) relatively small body size, generally less than 24 mm.