Haixiaphaenops jinxiaohongae, 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 jinxiaohongae sp. nov.

http://zoobank.org/701ACD12-A45D-4794-9994-BF58B3BE90D4 (Chinese name: 晓红盲步甲) Figures 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7

Type material.

Holotype male: Guizhou, Qingzhen, Anliu, Yangtianwo, Dawan Dong cave (贵州省清镇市暗流镇大湾洞), 26°52'N, 106°24'E, 941 m, 2020-IV-19, leg. Xiaohong Jin & Guangyuan Cheng, in SCAU; Paratypes: 1 male, same cave as holotype, 2021-VI-23, leg. Chenggang Wang; 1 male, Guizhou, Qingzhen, Anliu, Ximi, Changtu Dong cave (贵州省清镇市暗流镇长土洞), 26°51'N, 106°21'E, 1249 m, 2020-VI-27, leg. Chenggang Wang, Xiaohong Jing, Guangyuan Cheng, Yi Zhao & Mingyi Tian, both in SCAU.

Description.

Length: 6.5-6.8 mm (including mandibles); width: 1.0-1.1 mm. Habitus as in Figures 2 , 3 .

Head and pronotum dark brown (in holotype) or brown (in paratypes), elytra, femora and tibiae lighter, antennae, palps, and tarsi yellow. Head glabrous on upper surface, pronotum covered with long setae, elytra with short pubescence, ventral head covered with several setae; prosternum, meso- and metasterna and fore coxae glabrous, abdominal ventrites with dense and short pubescence, in particular on median portion. Microsculptural engraved meshes strongly transverse on head and pronotum, irregular isodiametric on elytra. Body moderately elongated, fore body (including mandibles) shorter than elytra.

Head (Fig. 4A, B ) moderately elongated, distinctly longer than wide, HLm/HW= 2.27, HLl/HW= 1.56; widest at about middle of head from labrum; frons and vertex moderately convex, genae gently expanded anteriad (but hardly expanded in paratype specimens); frontal furrows nearly parallel-sided in anterior 2/3, then strongly divergent posteriad, ending before posterior supraorbital pores; clypeus transverse, 6-setose, with an additional short seta medially; labrum transverse, nearly straight at front margin, 6-setose; mandibles thin, gently unciform at apex; labial suture absent; mentum 2-setose on each side of tooth at base, mentum base widely concave; labial tooth short, thin and bifid at tip, about half length of lateral lobe; submentum 10-setose; ligula bisetose, paraglossae pubescent; palpomeres moderately elongate, all glabrous except 2nd labial palpomere which is 4-setose (2 on inner margin and other 2 on outer margin at middle); the 2nd labial palpomere 1.3 times as long as 3rd; 3rd maxillary palpomere 1.2 times longer than 4th; suborbital pores near neck constriction; antennae slender and filiform, extending at about apical 1/4 of elytra, densely pubescent from pedicle to 11th antennomere; scape thick, fusiform, smooth but with several rather long setae, slightly shorter than pedicle; 5th and 6th antennomeres longest; antennal ratio (relative length of each antennomere compared with scape in the holotype) as follows: 1st (1.0), 2nd (1.25), 3rd (2.0), 4th (2.0), 5th (2.25), 6th (2.25), 7th (2.0), 8th (2.75), 9th (1.85), 10th (1.5) and 11th (2.0).

Prothorax (Fig. 4C, D ) longer than wide, PrL/PrW = 1.25-1.45; distinctly wider than pronotum, PrW/PnW = 1.14-1.23; much shorter than head including mandibles, PrL/ HLm = 0.6-0.70, or as long as head excluding mandibles; propleura tumid, widest at about 2/5 from base. Pronotum as wide as head; much longer than wide, PnL/PnW=1.51-1.64, widest at about middle, sides nearly parallel-sided; lateral margins distinctly reflexed throughout, front angles obtusely rectangular, hind angles sharply angulate; anterior lateral setae at about 2/7 from front margin, posterior setae absent; both base and front unbordered, the former anterior margin is subrectilinear, basal margin emarginate medially, convex laterally; disc slightly convex, surface with short and transversal striations; basal foveae large and deep, reverse triangular in shape. Scutellum short and wide.

Elytra (Fig. 4E, F ) ovate and stout, much wider than prothorax, EW/PrW = 2.10-2.18, much longer than wide, EL/EW = 1.52-1.60, widest at about basal 1/3 of elytra, extraordinarily convex, lateral margins of subapical portion invisible from above; humeri broadly rounded; lateral margins ciliate throughout; base bordered; striae easily traceable though punctures absent, apical striole well marked, ended at about apical 1/7 of elytra, in the joint area of 5th and 6th striae; intervals convex; chaetotaxy: basal pores present, along both sides of scutellum at apex; three discal pores present near position of 4th stria, anterior and posterior pores at about 1/5 and 2/7 of elytra from base and from apex respectively, median pore near middle of elytra; humeral set of marginal umbilicate pores not aggregated, only 2nd and 3rd pores close to marginal gutter; 1st pore transversely and backwardly shifted to site of 6th interval, far behind level of 3rd pore, making 4th pore closer to 1st than to 3rd; locations of middle set (5th and 6th pores) behind middle of elytra, not close to each other; umbilicate seta 8 clearly visible; angulo-apical pore present.

Legs quite stout, tibiae not longitudinally furrowed; protarsi short, 1st protarsomere elongated and widened, denticulate on inner side of apex in male; 1st tarsomere shorter than, subequal to, and longer than 2nd-4th tarsomeres combined in pro-, meso- and metatarsi, respectively.

Ventrites IV with a pair, V-VI each with two pairs of paramedial setae, VII 6-setose apically in male.

Male genitalia (Fig. 5 ): Median lobe of aedeagus short and stout, moderately sclerotized, with a large sagittal aileron and a large and elongated copulatory piece; ventral margin hardly sinuate, base opening wide, apex broadly rounded; parameres long and broad, but shorter than median lobe, each with four long setae at apex; in dorsal view, apical lobe rounded at apex, nearly as long as wide.

Female: unknown.

Etymology.

This species is dedicated to Ms Xiaohong Jin, an active member of Haixia Caving, Guiyang, who found and collected the unique known specimen.

Variations.

Both of the paratype specimens have a slightly thinner head than the holotype, and whole body concolorous brown instead of dark brown. Presently, we deal with the differences as individual variations regarding the facts that the similarities of morphological and genital structures, and the caves Dawan Dong and Changtu Dong are close to each other. Molecular analysis would be helpful to clarify their relationship.

Distribution.

China (Guizhou). Known from two limestone caves: Dawan Dong and Changtu Dong in the suburb of Guiyang (Fig. 1 ).

Located in the northern most part of Qingzhen Shi, about 45 km from the main town, Dawan Dong (Fig. 6A ) in openings of a cliff of the Maotiaohe valley, on the western side of the river (Fig. 6B ). This beautiful cave is 2026 m long, 10-30 m wide and 10-50 m high (Zhao Fei, pers. comm.), with large galleries and several huge chambers (Fig. 6C, D ). The single specimen was found running on the ground in a moist and dark area about 500 m from the entrance (Fig. 6 E ). Other cave invertebrates found in this cave were woodlice, harvestmen and crickets.

Cave Changtu Dong (Fig. 7 ) is located about 3.5 km from Dawan Dong in the west, and about half a kilometre from Ximi Village. The cave has two entrances, its length is still unknown. It has been badly impacted and not so pristine as Dawan Dong. Most of the main passage from the smaller entrance is wet and favourable for cave fauna (Fig. 7A, B ). The single specimen of H. jinxiaohongae gen. nov., sp. nov. was collected together with harvestmen, moths, and millipedes of the genera Pacidesmus and Glyphiulus along the main passage (Fig. 7C-G ).

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 2. Habitus of Haixiaphaenops jinxiaohongae gen. nov., sp. nov., holotype, male

Figure 3. Habitus of Haixiaphaenops jinxiaohongae gen. nov., sp. nov., paratype male, from the Cave Changtu Dong

Figure 4. Shapes and chaetotaxy of head, pronotum and elytra of Haixiaphaenops jinxiaohongae gen. nov., sp. nov. A, C, E holotype from Dawan Dong B, D, F paratype from Changtu Dong A, B head C, D pronotum E, F elytra. Scale bar: 1.0 mm (A-F).

Figure 5. Male genitalia of Haixiaphaenops jinxiaohongae gen. nov., sp. nov. A, B holotype from Dawan Dong C, D paratype from Changtu Dong.

Figure 6. Dawan Dong cave, the type locality of Haixiaphaenops jinxiaohongae gen. nov., sp. nov. A, B Entrances and environs C, D scenes inside the cave E a running individual of H. jinxiaohongae sp. nov. in the cave, courtesy of Mr Chenggang Wang.

Figure 7. Changtu Dong cave, another locality of Haixiaphaenops jinxiaohongae gen. nov., sp. nov. A one of the entrances B Xiaohong Jin is collecting in the cave C a harvestman D a running individual of H. jinxiaohongae gen. nov., sp. nov. E Cordyceps fungus growing on a Triphosa moth F millipede Glyphiulus sp. G millipede Pacidesmus sp.