Haixiaphaenops, Tian & Cheng & Huang, 2021

Tian, Mingyi, Cheng, Guangyuan & Huang, Sunbin, 2021, A contribution to the knowledge of cave-adapted ground beetles from Guiyang, central Guizhou Province, southwestern China (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Trechini), ZooKeys 1075, pp. 175-198 : 175

Haixiaphaenops gen. nov.

Type species:

Haixiaphaenops jinxiaohongae sp. nov. (caves Dawan Dong and Changtu Dong, Qingzhen, Guiyang)

Generic characteristics.

Medium-sized cave trechine, depigmented and eyeless, semi-aphaenopsian; body stout though fore body elongated, with moderately elongated appendages. Head longer than wide, 2 pairs of supraorbital setiferous pores present; frontal furrows rather long, incomplete, parallel-sided in most part, divergent posteriad; mandibles thin and very elongated, moderately hooked apically, right mandibular tooth bidentate though with 2 additional tiny denticles medially; labial suture absent; mentum 2-setose, base widely concave, submentum 10-setose; antennae thin and rather long, extending to apical 1/3 to 1/4 of elytra. Prothorax strongly convex and propleura notably visible from above; pronotum, much longer than wide, subparallel sided, disc covered with long setae, presence of only anterior lateral setae. Elytra elongated ovate, much wider than fore body; widest before middle, without humeral angles; base bordered, lateral margins well-bordered and ciliate throughout; disc extremely convex and tumid, partly concealing lateral margins; striae noticeable though punctures faint, intervals slightly convex; 3 discal setiferous pores present on each elytron, the preapical pores absent; the humeral group of the marginal umbilicate pores not aggregated, 1st pore inwardly and backwardly shifted, 5th and 6th pores (middle group) moderately spaced. 1st protarsomere dilated and elongated in male, inwardly spurred at apex; abdominal ventrite VII 6-setose in male.

Remarks.

Haixiaphaenops gen. nov. is allied to the genus Zhijinaphaenops Uéno & Ran, 2002 by sharing the following characteristics: (1) mentum and submentum completely fused; (2) prothorax strongly dilated and propleura notably visible from above, pronotum with only anterior latero-marginal setae; (3) only protarsomere 1 modified in male, which is long and inwardly spurred at apex; (4) pronotum covered with long setae; (5) elytra shortly pubescent, with hardly distinguishable striae, and the 1st marginal umbilicate pore inwardly and backwardly shifted, located behind the level of the 3rd pore. However, Haixiaphaenops gen. nov. readily differs from Zhijinaphaenops in several generic-level characters, such as: (1) 2 pairs of frontal pores present in Haixiaphaenops gen. nov., versus only the posterior pores present in Zhijinaphaenops ; (2) antennae much shorter in Haixiaphaenops gen. nov., only extending at most to apical 1/4 of elytra, versus longer, projection over apices of elytra in Zhijinaphaenops ; (3) pronotum elongated quadrate, nearly parallel-sided in Haixiaphaenops gen. nov., versus subcordate, not parallel-sided in Zhijinaphaenops ; (4) elytra much stouter and more convex in Haixiaphaenops gen. nov., partly concealing lateral margins in median portion, versus more elongated and less convex in Zhijinaphaenops , with whole lateral margins visible from above; (5) base of elytra bordered in Haixiaphaenops gen. nov., versus unbordered in Zhijinaphaenops ; and (6) male genitalia are small and stout, slightly bent medially, and widely rounded at apex in Haixiaphaenops gen. nov., versus large and slender, strongly arcuate medially, and more or less sharpened at apex in Zhijinaphaenops .

Etymology.

“Haixia” + “Aphaenops”, dedicated to Haixia Caving, a cave exploration team in Guiyang. Gender masculine.

Range.

China (Guizhou). Only one species of the genus was found in the limestone caves Dawan Dong and Changtu Dong in Qingzhen, northern Guiyang Shi (Fig. 1 ).

Figures

Figure 1. A distribution map of cavernicolous trechine beetles in Guiyang, central Guizhou Province. Triangles: Haixiaphaenops gen. nov.; dots: Zhijinaphaenops; squares: Sinaphaenops 1 H. jinxiaohongae sp. nov. / Changtu Dong 2 H. jinxiaohongae sp. nov. / Dawan Dong 3 Z. zhaofeii sp. nov. / Zhangkou Dong 4 Z. liuae Deuve & Tian, 2015 / Hejia Dong 5 a Z. jingliae Deuve & Tian, 2015 / Zhangkou Dong 5 b Z. jingliae / Mafen Dong 5 c Z. jingliae / Wenquan Dong 6 S. lipoi Chen et al. 2020 / Da Dong 7 a S. chengguangyuani Ma et al. 2020 / Shuijing Dong 7 b S. chengguangyuani / Duocai Dong 7 c S. chengguangyuani / Jianlong Dong.