Corresponding author: Robert B. Angus (
Academic editor: M. Michat
Angus RB (2017) A remarkable new
In the course of a beetle-collecting trip to the Kangding area of Sichuan in June-July 2016, two females of an unknown
Placed in the subgenus
General appearance: Fig.
Length: 4.3–4.4 mm; breadth: 1.9 mm. Metallic black, elytra with dark brown undertone and legs dark brown.
Head: strongly granulate, slightly shining with dark green-bronze reflection. Stem of Y-groove narrow linear, 2× wider than arms. Maxillary palpi metallic black with dark brown undertone, short, apical segment almost symmetrical oval. Antennae 9-segmented, brownish black, clubs darker.
Pronotum: widest about a fifth of the way from the anterior margin, abruptly narrowed anteriorly with the sides sinuate just behind anterior angles, but almost straight behind widest point, convergent to hind angles. Moderately arched, middle portion of internal intervals somewhat bulging, outer part of middle intervals and inner part of external intervals somewhat depressed. Granulation somewhat reduced on middle part of internal intervals, stronger on middle intervals and coarse on externals. Grooves shallow, mid groove over most of its length as wide as the diameter of 3 punctures, tapered to a point anteriorly, slightly constricted but parallel-sided in basal quarter. Floor of groove shining with a few small sparse punctures. Submedian grooves about half width of mid groove, angled outwards medially, reflexed a quarter of the way from each end. Floors shining, rugulose. Submarginals about as wide as mid groove, their sides irregular, floors rugose, shining. Marginal grooves narrow, effaced in anterior quarter. Narrow raised margins finely crenulate. Underside of pronotum with shining suprapleural area narrow at front, widest in anterior quarter, then evenly narrowed to hind angles.
Elytra: widest just behind middle, then tapered to rounded apex. Striae weakly impressed – strial punctures strong but not connected by grooves. Interstices flat with one or two rows of fine punctures, but interstices 1–3 rugose over basal quarter. Scutellary striae of 3–4 punctures, partly concealed by the rugosity. Surface of elytra with a V-shaped depression over basal quarter. Interstice 11 strongly keeled, flanks opposite the metaventrite about three quarters the width of the epipleurs.
Abdomen: ventrites black with erect pubescence. Apical margin of sternite 7 not denticulate.
Legs: dark brown, tarsi blackened apically. Rather short, tarsal hairs indistinct.
♀, CHINA, Sichuan. Kangding County. Yalashenshan
Habitat of
♀, data as holotype. In the Natural History Museum, London (BMNH).
Shining, often metallic, black maxillary palpi are fairly unusual in
In the key to the world species of
8 | Maxillary palpi short, metallic black, apical segment almost symmetrical oval |
|
– | Maxillary palpi longer, at least in part brownish or yellow, apical segment clearly asymmetrical | |
8’ | Internal intervals of pronotum without granules. Elytra brown with extensive darker mottling as well as dark marks representing the sutural V-mark. Aedeagus either similar to that of |
|
– | Internal intervals of the pronotum extensively granulate | |
8” | Conspicuously elongate beetles with relatively small pronota (Angus, 1995, figs 1, 5). Aedeagus with parameres narrow, slightly incurved apically (Angus, 1995, fig. 13) |
|
– | Less elongate beetles, pronotum relatively slightly larger (Angus, 1992, fig. 26 a, b) |
I thank Fenglong Jia for hosting my visit to China and for all his help, the Natural History Museum London and the Biology School of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou for research facilities, Dandan Zhang for her help for booking hotel and flight tickets for the Kangding collection, Zhiqiang Li and Mr. Kai Chen for their help when we were working on field.