Shenoblemus Tian & Fang, 2020

Fang, Jie, Li, Wenbo, Wang, Xinhui & Tian, Mingyi, 2020, New cavernicolous ground beetles from Anhui Province, China (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Trechini, Platynini), ZooKeys 923, pp. 33-50 : 33

Shenoblemus Tian & Fang gen. nov.

Type species.

Shenoblemus minusculus Tian & Fang, sp. nov. (the cave Shenxian Dong, Huangshan Qu, Huangshan Shi, Anhui).

Generic characteristics.

Small-sized beetles for the phyletic series of Trechoblemus ( Casale and Laneyrie 1982; Jeannel 1928; Casale et al. 1998), or Trechoblemus complex ( Uéno and Pawlowski 1981), anophthalmic; body short and stout, appendages short; dorsal surface more or less pubescent; head subquadrate, wider than long excluding mandibles, and shorter than pronotum; frontal furrows entire, two pairs of supra-orbital and pair of suborbital pores present; right mandible bidentate; labial suture absent, making mentum and submentum completely fused; mentum bisetose, base largely concave, median tooth simple, short and blunt at apex; submentum quadrisetose; antennae short, extending only to about 1/3 of elytra from base, the 7th to 11th antennomeres sub-moniliform; pronotum quadrate, transverse, evidently wider than long, widest near front, at about 1/4 apically, two pairs of lateromarginal setae present, posterior ones located before hind angles, fore angles markedly protruding and sharp, hind ones nearly rectangular and pointed, base nearly straight; elytra stout though distinctly longer than fore body including mandibles, nearly parallel-sided, widest at about middle, surface moderately convex, shoulders distinct, angularly rounded, lateral margins strongly serrated at base, then more or less ciliated throughout; striae obliterated though partly traceable; two dorsal pores present on the 3rd stria, and the preapical present; apical striole weakly defined, connected to the 5th stria; humeral group (the 1st to 4th pores) of marginal umbilicate series equidistantly spaced, median group (the 5th and 6th pores) widely separated each other, the 5th pore forwardly shifted and closer to the 4th than to 6th; protibia without longitudinal groove externally; the 1st and 2nd protarsomeres modified in male, distinctly denticulate inwards at each apex; the 1st protarsomere shorter than 2nd to 4th ones combined in all legs; ventrite VII with one pairs of apical setae in male; male genitalia thin and slender, slightly arcuate.

Remarks.

The main characteristics (such as the small and pubescent body, two frontal pores present on the head, fused mentum and submentum, location of dorsal pores on the 3rd stria and an equidistantly spaced humeral group of the marginal umbilicate series) indicate that Shenoblemus is a lineage of the Trechoblemus phyletic series. It is probably close to the Zhejiangese genus Microblemus Uéno, 2007, whose members are also small-sized, with similar head, bidentate right mandible, and have similar chaetotaxy on the elytra ( Uéno 2007a). However, Shenoblemus can be easily distinguished from Microblemus by: (1) antennae sub-moniliform, whereas they are filiform in Microblemus ; (2) mentum and submentum completely fused, versus only partly fused with labial suture traceable in Microblemus ; (3) pronotum quadrate and transverse, with fore angles evidently protruding, but cordate and narrow, with fore angles not protruding in Microblemus ; and (4) elytral base and shoulders simple or moderately serrate in Shenoblemus , whereas they are strongly dentate in Microblemus .

Shenoblemus may be also related to the sympatric Wanoblemus as both genera share some important characteristics: (1) similar chaetotaxy on head and pronotum; (2) 1st and 2nd protarsomeres modified in the male; (3) labial suture missing; and (4) bidentate right mandible (though tricuspid in three individuals of Wanoblemus huangshanicus sp. nov.). However, they are evidently different in the following aspects: (1) body much smaller and stouter in Shenoblemus ; (2) 7th to 11th antennomeres are sub-moniliform in Shenoblemus , but filiform in Wanoblemus ; (3) pronotum strongly transverse, with fore angles protruding and sharp in Shenoblemus , versus narrower, with fore angles not protruding in Wanoblemus ; (4) lateral margin of elytra strongly serrate near base in Shenoblemus , whereas it is weakly subserrate or ciliate in Wanoblemus ; (5) 5th and 6th pores of the marginal umbilicate series of the elytra widely spaced, making the 5th pore closer to the 4th than to the 6th in Shenoblemus , instead of much closer to the 6th than to the 4th in Wanoblemus ; (6) protibiae without a longitudinal sulcus in Shenoblemus , versus a distinct longitudinal sulcus present in Wanoblemus ; and (7) male genitalia thin and elongate in Shenoblemus , versus short and strongly arcuate in Wanoblemus .

The following features may separate Shenoblemus from another Zhejiangese genus, Wulongoblemus Uéno, 2007 whose members have also the 1st and 2nd protarsomeres modified in the male: (1) right mandible bidentate in Shenoblemus , but tridentate in Wulongoblemus ; (2) body small, short, and stout in Shenoblemus , whereas it is large and slender in Wulongoblemus ; (3) pronotum transverse, with fore angles protruding in Shenoblemus , versus pronotum longer than wide, with obtuse fore angles in Wulongoblemus ; (4) antennae sub-moniliform in Shenoblemus , instead of filiform in Wulongoblemus .

Etymology.

"Shen (= “Shenxian”, meaning immortal in Chinese) + blemus", referring to the locality of the type species. Gender masculine.

Generic range.

China (Anhui).