Dongodytes (s. str.) tonywhitteni, Yang, Pingjing, Huang, Sunbin & Tian, Mingyi, 2018

Yang, Pingjing, Huang, Sunbin & Tian, Mingyi, 2018, A contribution to Dongodytes (s. str.) Deuve, 1993 (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Trechinae), ZooKeys 772, pp. 129-140 : 129

Dongodytes (s. str.) tonywhitteni sp. n. Figs 1, 4, 5a, 6a, 7a, b

Material.

Holotype: male, Guangxi: Hechi: Bama: Fenghuang: Dena: Cave Nonggong Dong, 24°11'26.28"N / 107°23'41.49"E, 439 m in altitude, 2015-VII-31, leg. Xinhui Wang, Mingruo Tang & Jujian Chen leg., in SCAU; paratypes: 1 male and 2 females, ibid, in SCAU.

Diagnosis.

Large cave beetles, eyeless and depigmented, with very elongated body and appendages, antennae extending beyond apices of elytra, fore part of the body longer than elytra, protarsomere I slightly denticulate inwards at apices in male.

Description.

Length: 7.9-8.1 mm; width: 1.5-1.6 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 4.

Wholly reddish brown, with pale mouthparts palps and tarsi; slender and elongated body with very thin and long appendages, of which antennae evidently extending over apex of elytra. Smooth and glabrous on upper body surface but sparsely setose on head. Fore body longer (with mandibles) ((HLm+PrL)/EL = 1.12) or slightly shorter (excluding mandibles) ((HLl+PrL)/EL = 0.98) than elytra.

Head thin and very elongated, subconical but wider than that of both D. fowleri and D. grandis ; much longer than wide, HLm/HW = 3.7, HLl/HW = 2.9; much longer than prothorax, HLm/PrL = 1.71, HLl/PrL = 1.35; narrower than prothorax and pronotum, HW/PrW = 0.78, HW/PnW = 0.94; presence of two pairs of supraorbital pores, genae more widened than in both D. fowleri and D. grandis ; labial suture traceable; mentum bisetose, concave basally; mentum tooth small and short, simple at tip; submentum 6-setose; palps very thin and slender; maxilla palpomeres III and IV glabrous; labial palp II bisetose on inner margin, 1.5 times longer than palp III which is glabrous; suborbital pores nearer neck than submentum. Antennae thin and very long, much longer than whole body including mandibles, extending over elytral apices from apical part of antennomere IX.

Prothorax elongated, shorter than head, 1.67 times longer than wide, evidently tumid on propleura, widest at approximately 1/3 from base. Pronotum narrow and elongated, evidently wider than in both D. fowleri and D. grandis , twice as long as wide, PnL/PnW = 2.03; slightly wider than head, PnW/HW = 1.07; base wider than front (PbW/PfW = 1.6); widest at a little behind middle; lateral margins strongly sinuate before hind angles which are acute and sharp; anterior latero-marginal setae at approximately the apical 1/3, basal ones before hind angles, at exactly the sinuated points. Scutellum small.

Elytra very elongated ovate, similar in both D. fowleri and D. grandis in shape and chaetotaxy, with well-marked lateral borders; EL/EW = 2.22, EL/PnL = 2.42, EW/PnW= 1.82.

Legs thin and very long, protibiae smooth, without longitudinal sulci, protarsomere I evidently longer than wide.

Ventrite IV-VI each with three pairs of paramedian setae; in female, IV and V each with a pair of setae, VI with two pairs in male; VII quadrisetose in female, bisetose in male.

Male genitalia (Fig. 7a, b): Aedeagus moderately sclerotized, median lobe similar to D. grandis Uéno, 1998 (Fig. 7c, d), but less curved ventrally, base a little stouter, with a smaller and narrower sagittal aileron, apex less reflexed, apical lobe wider, left paramere bearing four or five long setae at apex.

Remarks.

Dongodytes tonywhitteni sp. n. is closer to D. grandis than to D. fowleri Deuve, 1993 because both former two species have slenderer and longer aedeagus (Fig. 7), although Nonggong Dong cave is closer to Jiabao Dong or Xiaoshui Dong (the localities of D. fowleri Deuve, 1993) than to Yuanyang Dong (the locality of D. grandis Uéno, 1998) (Fig. 1). However, there are several differences in genital structures (mentioned above) between them. The striking morphological character of D. tonywhitteni sp. n. is that lateral sides of pronotum is abruptly and strongly sinuate before the acute hind angles (Fig. 5a), versus gently sinuate before hind angles which are obtuse or more or less rectangular in both known species (Fig. 5b, c).

Etymology.

The name of this new species is dedicated to the late Dr. Tony Whitten (Fauna & Flora International, Cambridge, UK.), a famous biological conservationist in China and Southeast Asia who provided crucial support for cave biodiversity study in China.

Distribution.

China (Guangxi: Bama County). Known only from the type locality, cave Nonggong Dong (Fig. 1).

The entrance of cave Nonggong Dong is largely opened and surrounded by bushes. Its length remains unknown. There is a large room near entrance, and it is very humid and muddy. An underground stream goes along the main passage which is very deep, and some parts of the cave are interrupted by vertical shafts. The trechine beetles were collected in dark areas ca. 10-30 metres away from the entrance. Other cave animals found also in this cave were millipedes, crickets, woodlice, and bats.