Corresponding author: Mingyi Tian (
Academic editor: A. Casale
A remarkable aphaenopsian beetle, a sympatric species of
Tian M (2017) A new highly cave-adapted trechine genus and species from northern Guizhou Province, China (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Trechinae). ZooKeys 643: 97–108.
Guizhou Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of southern China hold the largest karstic landscapes in the world (
Members of
In October, 2016, a cave biodiversity survey was carried out by our team in several counties of Zunyi and Tongren Districts, northern and northeastern Guizhou, in order to collect species of the genera
As the longest cave system in China, Shuanghe Dong is connected by 42 caves or entrances, with total length coming up to 186.33 km (
The single blind beetle and the elytral debris for this study were collected by the naked eye using an aspirator inside the cave Mahuang Dong, and kept in 50% ethanol before study. Other cave beetles used for comparing were dry and mounted specimens of the insect collection of South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China (
Dissections and observations were made under a Leica S8AP0 microscope. Dissected genital pieces, including the median lobe and parameres of the aedeagus, were glued onto small transparent plastic plates and pinned under the specimen. Habitus pictures were taken by means of a Keyence VHX-5000 digital microscope. Genital pictures were taken using a Canon EOS 40D camera connected to a Zeiss AX10 microscope, and then stacked and processed using Adobe Photoshop CS5 software. Distribution maps were drawn using Mapinfo software.
The length of the body was measured from the apex of the right mandible (in open position) or from labrum to the elytral apex; the width of the body was taken as the maximum width of the elytra.
Abbreviations of other measurements used in the text are as follows:
length of head including mandibles, from apex of right mandible to neck constriction
length of head excluding mandibles, from front of labrum to occipital suture
maximum width of head
length of prothorax, along the median line
length of pronotum, as long as PrL
maximum width of prothorax
maximum width of pronotum
width of pronotum at front
width of pronotum at base
length of elytra, from base of scutellum to elytral apex
maximum width of combined elytra
Large sized blind beetles, fore body evidently elongated and as long as elytra, shape intermediate between
Highly modified aphaenopsian trechines, fore part (head and thorax) of the body somewhat similar to
Apart from the similarity in elytra and antennae between
The fore body of this new genus is more or less similar to that of
“Shuanghe + Aphaenops”. To indicate that the highly modified trechine genus occurs in Shuanghe Dong, the longest cave system in China.
Guizhou (Suiyang) (Fig.
Distribution of
Male, Cave Mahuang Dong, Shuanghe Dong cave system, Wenquan Zhen, Suiyang County,
A large-sized, eyeless cave trechine beetle, highly modified in morphology, with very elongated and slender body which is about four times longer than wide, fore body about as long as elytra, antennae as long as body including mandibles, extending beyond elytral apex; body glabrous, except for basal half of pronotum which is covered with erected setae.
Length: 7.9 mm (from apex of right mandibles to elytral apex) or 7.2 mm (from labrum to elytra); width: 1.79 mm. Fore body (including mandibles) longer than elytra, (
Yellowish brown, a little darker on head, pronotum and basal half of elytra, pale on antennae, mouthparts, palps and tarsi. Moderately shiny. Head and elytra glabrous, pronotum glabrous on apical half (but with two or three short setae near middle of frontal margin) but pubescent on basal half. Underside of head and prothorax glabrous (Fig.
Habitus of
Head (Fig.
Head and prothorax of
Prothorax shorter than head including mandibles (
Elytra (Fig.
Elytra of
Legs thin and long, bearing short pubescence; fore- and middle femora sparsely setose; fore tibia smooth, without longitudinal furrow or sulcus; the 1st tarsomere shorter than, as long as, and longer than the 2nd–4th tarsomeres together in fore, middle, and hind legs, respectively.
Male genitalia (Fig.
Male genitalia of
To indicate the slender shape of this beautiful aphaenopsian beetle.
China (Guizhou: Suiyang) (Fig.
Mahuang Dong (Figs
Cave Mahuang Dong, the type locality of
I am so grateful to our team members, Jujian Chen, Mingruo Tang and Pingjing Yang (