Corresponding author: Mei-Jun Zhao (
Academic editor: Roberto Poggi
A remarkable species with extremely elongate antenna and legs was discovered among the pselaphines collected from Nan’ling National Nature Reserve, Guangdong Province, South China, by use of a Tullgren Funnel. Based on a combination of following characters, this species was recognized as new and representing a unit for which a new genus belonging to
The material examined was extracted from soil samples by use of a Tullgren Funnel. Dissections were made in 75% ethanol, dissected parts were mounted in Euparal on plastic slides. Photo of habitus taken with a Canon EOS 40D Camera mounted with MP-E 65 mm Macro Photo Lens. Line drawings made with Adobe Illustrator CS2.
Type material deposited in the Insect Collections of Shanghai Normal University, China (SNUC)
The terminology of foveal system mainly follows
Head slightly elongate, sides round. Eyes situated at anterior half of head. Antenna conspicuously elongate, club loosely three-segmented, terminal segment large. Pronotum with pairs of tubercles, a pair of lateral antebasal foveae, a pair of outer basolateral foveae and a pair of inner basolateral foveae. Each elytron with three basal foveae, discal stria present. Subhumeral elytral fovea present, indistinct. Legs conspicuously elongate. Abdominal segments successively narrower posteriad, with round apex. Segment IV large. Tergite IV with paratergites forming a pair of triangular plates. Aedeagus elongate, basal bulb large, with flattened membrane and hook-like sclerite, median lobe elongate and well sclerotized, with elongate dorsal apophysis.
Head with vertexal sulcus absent. Vertexal foveae small. Eyes relatively small, convex. Antennae 11-segmented, conspicuously elongate, with thick scape and loosely three-segmented club, terminal antennomere large. Pronotum nearly hexagonal, with pair of lateral antebasal foveae, pair of outer basolateral foveae, and pair of inner basolateral foveae. Elytron with three basal foveae, subhumeral elytral fovea present. Sutural stria absent, discal stria faint, marginal stria present. Venter with pair of lateral mesoventral foveae, pair of lateral mesocoxal foveae, and pair of lateral metaventral foveae. Abdomen moderately narrow and round apically. Tergite IV large. Paratergites IV present as pair of triangular plates.
Members of
Only one male specimen was collected during a long-term investigation on the soil beetles of Nan’ling National Nature Reserve, indicating that this is a rare species or that we have not found a method of finding individuals.
Guangdong Province (South China)
The generic name is derived from the Latin word “
HOLOTYPE male, China: Guangdong Province, Nan’ling N. R., No. 6 Forest-Road,24°56'34"N; 113°01'26"E, alt. 1,388 m, Oct. 2009, Lei GAO leg.
Body (
Head (
Pronotum (
Abdomen with tergite IV (
Aedeagus (
The new species is distinct by its conspicuously elongate and slender antennae and legs. A number of external characters of the new genus, such like the roughly dentate sides of the pronotum, each elytron with three basal foveae, tergite IV with a pair of triangular paratergites, provide evidence for placement of
The name is derived from the Latin words, “
We thank Dr. Lei GAO (South China Agricultural University) for collecting and providing the type material treated in the present study. We are grateful to Dr. Shûhei Nomura (Tokyo, Japan) and Dr. Ivan Löbl (Genève, Switzerland) for critically reading the manuscript. Comments from two anonymous reviewers also inproved the paper. The study is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30870323) and Shanghai Natural Science Foundation (No. 10ZR1421600).