Zhijinaphaenops zhaofeii, 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

Zhijinaphaenops zhaofeii sp. nov.

(Chinese name: 赵飞盲步甲) Figures 8 , 9A, E , 10A, B , 11

Type material.

Holotype male: Guizhou, Guiyang, Xifeng, Jiuzhuang, Changtu Dong cave (贵州省贵阳市息烽县九庄镇张口洞), 27°11'N, 106°29'E, 1008 m, 2019-VI-08, leg. Jingli Cheng & Mingyi Tian.

Diagnosis.

A medium-sized Zhijinaphaenops species, body concolorous reddish brown, antennae very long, extending over elytral apices.

Description.

Length: 5.8 mm (including mandibles); width: 1.7 mm. Habitus as in Figure 8 .

Body reddish brown, palps and tarsi pale. Head covered with sparse and short hairs, whole disc of pronotum covered with dense and long setae; elytra densely pubescent, except glabrous at apical portion; genae, ventral head and prosternum with a few setae; meso- and metasterna and hind coxae dense setose; abdominal ventrites covered with dense and short pubescence.

Microsculptural engraved meshes isodiametric on labrum and base of frons, moderately transverse on vertex and more or less transversally striate on pronotum and elytra. Elytra rather stout, fore body (including mandibles) as long as elytra.

Head (Fig. 9A ) moderately elongated, distinctly longer than wide, HLm/HW = 2.25, HLl/HW = 1.66; widest at about middle; sub-parallel-sided, frons and vertex moderately convex; frontal furrows nearly parallel-sided in anterior 2/3, then strongly divergent posteriad, ending before posterior supraorbital pores; anterior supraorbital pores absent; clypeus transverse, 6-setose; labrum transverse, front margin shallowly bisinuate, 6-setose; mandibles thickened, feebly unciform at apex, right mandibular tooth bidentate; labial suture completely disappeared; mentum 2-setose, base widely concave, tooth short, thin and bifid at tip; submentum 9-setose; ligula 2-setose at apex; palpomeres moderately long and slender, glabrous except 2nd labial palpomere bisetose on inner margin, with an additional seta on outer margin near apex; 2nd labial palpomere 1.15 times as long as 3rd, whereas 3rd maxillary one 1.20 times longer than 4th; suborbital setae close to base of head; antennae slender and elongate, 11th antennomere and part of 10th antennomere extending over elytral apices; scape thick, fusiform, with several rather long setae, pedicle the shortest; antennomeres densely pubescent from pedicle to 11th; 3rd antennomeres longest; relative length of each antennomere compared with pedicle in the holotype as follows: 1st (1.27), 2nd (1.00), 3rd (2.57), 4th (2.38), 5th (2.46), 6th (2.22), 7th (2.10), 8th (1.83), 9th (1.75), 10th (1.60) and 11th (1.89).

Prothorax longer than wide, PrL/PrW = 1.14; distinctly wider than pronotum, PrW/PnW = 1.19; shorter than head, PrL/HLm = 0.68, PrL/HLl = 0.92, propleura strongly tumid, widest at about 2/5 from base. Pronotum wider than head, PnW/HW = 1.15; longer than wide, PnL/PnW = 1.35, sides bordered and reflexed throughout, more reflexed near base, widest at about 3/5 from base, more constricted anteriorly, gently contracted backwards, then shallowly sinuate before hind angles; fore angles obtuse, hind angles rectangular; base and front straight, unbordered, and subequal in width; anterior lateral setae at about 1/4 from front, posterior setae absent; disc slightly convex, basal foveae large and deep. Scutellum moderate in size.

Elytra (Fig. 9E ) elongated ovate, strongly convex though lateral margins visible throughout from above; much wider than prothorax, EW/PrW = 1.88, much longer than wide, EL/EW = 1.64, widest at about middle; humeral angles broadly rounded; lateral margins finely bordered throughout, smooth, not ciliate; base unbordered, apical striole absent; striae not easily traceable; intervals faintly convex; chaetotaxy (Fig. 9E ), anterior discal pore located at about basal 1/6 of elytra, posterior one at about apical 2/5 of elytra; 7th and 8th pores well marked; angulo-apical pore present.

Legs rather long for a Zhijinaphaenops species, fore and middle tibiae longitudinally furrowed; the 1st protarsomere in male elongated and widened, denticulate on inner side of apex; 1st tarsomere as long as 2nd-4th tarsomeres combined in all legs.

Ventrites IV with 2 pairs, V and VI each with 3 pairs of paramedial setae, VII 6-setose apically.

Male genitalia (Fig. 10A, B ): Median lobe of aedeagus short, moderately sclerotized, with a large sagittal aileron and a large and elongated copulatory piece which is about 1/4 of median lobe in length; ventral margin strongly sinuate, then tapering toward apex which is blunt; base opening rather narrow, apical lobe narrow, much longer than wide, broadly rounded at apex; parameres long and broadly widened, but shorter than median lobe, each with 3 long setae at apex.

Female: unknown.

Remarks.

Similar to Zhijinaphaenops jingliae Deuve & Tian, 2015, but Z. zhaofeii sp. nov. differs in having a wider head, with labrum bisinuate instead of nearly straight, mandibles less hooked at tips and a median lobe with a broader apex in dorsal view.

Etymology.

In honor of Mr Fei Zhao, a young active caver in Guiyang.

Distribution.

China (Guizhou). Known only from limestone cave Zhangkou Dong, in the suburb of Guiyang (Fig. 1 ).

Located in the northwestern part of Xifeng County, Zhangkou Dong (Fig. 11 ) on the southern bank of the Wujiang River. The entrance (Fig. 11A ) is close to the main road from Jiuzhuang town to the dock. The passage goes obliquely down to the inner part of the cave, with a small creek inside. It is a rather beautiful cave, but partly damaged by the villagers. The habitat remains favourable for cave animals (Fig. 11B, C ). The single beetle was found under a stone in a muddy area about 100 m from the entrance (Fig. 11D ). Other cave invertebrates found in this cave were millipedes of Pacidesmus and Glyphiulus (Fig. 11E, F ), a mite (Fig. 11G ), moths and crickets.

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.

Figure 8. Habitus of Zhijinaphaenops zhaofeii sp. nov., holotype, male.

Figure 9. Head (A-D) and elytral chaetotaxy (E-H) of Zhijinaphaenops species A, E Z. zhaofeii sp. nov. B-D, F-H Z. jingliae B, F from Zhangkou Dong in Musan, type locality C, G from Mafen Dong D, H from Wenquan Dong. Scale bar: 1.0 mm (A-H).

Figure 10. Male genitalia of Zhijinaphaenops species, lateral view and apical lobe in dorsal view A, B Z. zhaofeii sp. nov. C, D Z. jingliae Deuve & Tian, 2015. Scale bar for A-D.

Figure 11. Zhangkou Dong cave, type locality of Zhijinaphaenops zhaofeii sp. nov. A entrance B, C scenes inside the cave D a running individual of Zhijinaphaenops zhaofeii sp. nov. E millipede Pacidesmus sp. F millipede Glyphiulus sp. G a mite.