Blaptogonia zhentanga, Li, Xiu-Min, Bai, Xing-Long & Ren, Guo-Dong, 2018

Li, Xiu-Min, Bai, Xing-Long & Ren, Guo-Dong, 2018, A new species of the genus Blaptogonia from the Himalayas with four DNA markers (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae, Blaptini), ZooKeys 773, pp. 69-78 : 69

Blaptogonia zhentanga sp. n. Figs 1, 2, 3-4

Type material.

Holotype: male (MHBU) (Fig. 3), CHINA: Xizang, Dinggyê County, Zhêntang Town, Power Station, 27°55.069'N, 87°28.171'E, Alt. 3418 m, 4.VIII.2014, Guo-Dong Ren, Xing-Long Bai & Jun-Sheng Shan leg. Paratypes: 54 males, 28 females (MHBU), same data as the holotype.

Diagnosis.

This new species is closely related to Blaptogonia subcarinata Blair, 1927 but can be distinguished from the latter by the following character states: (1) elytral surface with fine granules and irregular and shallow fine punctures, whereas subcarinata has no granules and rows of punctures between carinae and subcarinae; (2) elytral carinae more elevated than the subcarinae, whereas the subcarinae are as high as the carinae in subcarinata ; (3) parameres arcuately concave and narrowing from basal 1/5 to apex, whereas the parameres are nearly straight in subcarinata and narrowing from base to apex.

Etymology.

Named after the type locality, Zhêntang.

Description.

Head, palps, antennae, carinae, subcarinae, humeral carina, abdomen, tibiae, and tarsus black. Pronotum, elytra, femora, apical spurs, and claws reddish brown to brown. Shiny dorsally and ventrally, with sparse and short pubescence at apex on elytra.

Male (Figs 2 a–g, 3). Labrum with sparse punctures and pale yellow setae. Anterior margin of clypeus straight, tilted at sides, surface with sparse fine punctures; frontoclypeal suture shallow. Anterior gena slightly extended before eyes, outer margins straight and converging toward base of clypeus, surface with moderately dense fine punctures; emargination of outer margins of head above antennal base widely obtuse-angular. Eyes transverse, weakly projecting and clearly wider than anterior gena. Posterior gena densely hairy, outer margins arcuately converging to neck. Surface of head with moderately dense punctures. Antennae (Fig. 1b) moderately long, with apical segment reaching beyond pronotal base, length (width) ratio of antennomeres 2 to 11 are 1.0(0.9): 1.0(0.3): 1.0(0.5): 1.0(0.5): 1.0(0.5): 1.0(0.5): 1.0(1.0): 1.0(0.8): 1.0(0.9): 1.0(0.7).

Pronotum (Fig. 2a) transverse, widest before middle, 1.3-1.5 times as wide as long, 1.6-1.8 times as wide as head. Ratio of pronotal width at anterior margin to its maximum and base 0.6: 1.0: 0.9. Anterior margin arcuate, bordered laterally by bead along entire length; posterior margin weakly arcuate, without bead. Anterior angles obtuse, rounded apically; posterior angles obtuse. Pronotal surface between lateral margins weakly convex, with moderately dense and shallow fine punctures on disc. Propleura with fine shallow wrinkles. Prosternal process with dense pale hairs.

Elytra elongate-oval, 1.4-1.6 times as long as wide, and 1.2-1.4 times as wide as pronotum. Each elytron between suture and humeral carina with two distinct carinae. In addition, surface of elytra between suture and 1st carina, 1st and 2nd carina, 2nd and humeral carina with lower subcarinae; subcarinae between 2nd and humeral carina indistinct. The humeral carina, subcarinae and carinae reaching base of elytra; 1st carina fused with humeral carina at apex, 2nd carina and subcarinae indistinct at apex. Surface of suture, subcarinae, carinae, humeral carina, between suture and subcarinae, between subcarinae and carinae, between subcarinae and humeral carina with irregular sparse and shallow fine punctures, sparse fine granules, and shallow wrinkles; punctures and wrinkles indistinct at apex. Epipleura not reaching suture of elytral angle, outer margin visible in dorsal view only at humeri, sometimes at apices. Visible abdominal sternites covered with short pale recumbent setae, sparse and fine shallow punctures, and fine granules; 1st to 3rd ventrites with fine longitudinal wrinkles, 2nd ventrite flattened in the middle, 4th ventrite shallowly depressed at sides.

Legs (Fig. 2c, d) rather slender. Protibia (Fig. 2c1) straight, inner apical spur longer than outer one; mesotibia (Fig. 2c2) nearly straight; metatibia (Fig. 2c3) straight, inner apical spur equal to or slightly longer than outer one. Ventral surface of protarsomere I (Fig. 2d1) with hairy brush, mesotarsomere I (Fig. 2d2) with hairy tuft. Length (width) ratio of pro-, meso- and metafemora 7.4(1.0): 2.5(1.0): 3.0(1.0), that of corresponding tibiae 3.4(1.0): 3.5(1.0): 4.3(1.0); that of metatarsomeres (Fig. 1d3) 12.7(1.0): 7.3(1.0): 6.5(1.0): 13.8(1.0). Claws slender, longer than half the length of apical tarsomere.

Aedeagus (Fig. 2 e–g): length 2.9 mm, width 0.8 mm. Parameres 0.9 mm long and 0.6 mm wide, arcuately concave, narrowing from basal 1/5 to apex (Fig. 2e1, e2), and curved to ventral side in lateral view (Fig. 2e3).

Female (Figs 2 h–i, 4). Body wider than in male. Antennae reaching pronotal base. Pronotum 1.4-1.5 times as wide as long, 1.6-1.8 times as wide as head. Elytra 1.3-1.5 times as long as wide, and 1.4-1.6 times as wide as pronotum. Second visible sternite not flattened in middle. Apical spur slender, sharp at apex; inner apical spur of protibia slightly longer than outer one. Ventral surface of tarsus without hairy tuft. Spiculum ventrale as in Fig. 1h. Ovipositor as in Fig. 1i.

Measurements.

Body length: male 11.9-13.8 mm, female 13.1-14.9 mm; width: male 5.3-6.0 mm, female 7.0-7.4 mm.

Distribution.

China: Xizang.

Molecular characters.

Two fragments of mitochondrial protein-coding genes (COI, Cytb), one fragment of mitochondrial ribosomal RNA gene (16S), and one fragment of nuclear rRNA gene (28SD2) are deposited in GenBank with the accession numbers MG946798, MG946797, MG946800, and MG946799, respectively, based on one male, China, Xizang, Dinggyê, Zhêntang, 4 August 2014, coll. Guo-dong Ren, Xing-long Bai & Jun-sheng Shan. The sequence is presented in Table 2.

Biology.

Adults of the new species were found beneath stones in the shrubbery (Fig. 1), usually with more than ten individuals per stone. When threatened, they released quite foul smells and irritating liquids from their abdominal defensive glands. The smell persisted for a few days in the laboratory.