Lacon yejiei, Zawadzki & Tencatt & Britski, 2023

Zawadzki, Cláudio H, Tencatt, Luiz F C & Britski, Heraldo A, 2023, Two New Flightless Species Of Lacon Laporte, 1838 From Yunnan, China, With Discovery Of The Female Of L. Habashanensis Platia Et Al., 2023 (Coleoptera: Elateridae: Agrypninae), Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 69 (4), pp. 323-336 : 329-333

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.17109/AZH.69.4.323.2023//zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:7ED66EF2-15AF-40F5-8E2F-E8D95A1AA67B

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03CE87C9-8778-E609-EECD-5F89FBD1FEA1

treatment provided by

Felipe

scientific name

Lacon yejiei
status

sp. nov.

Lacon yejiei sp. n.

http://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:C721BD04-1DCB-43DB-AD89-C7C98EE612F0 ( Figs 1C–D View Fig ; 2C–D, G–H View Fig ; 3E–H View Fig ; 4A–D View Fig )

Chinese Common name. 业杰鳞叩甲

Type material – Holotype: male ( MYNU), Lagaluo Village [拉嘎洛村], Zhonglu Township , Weixi County, Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture , Yunnan, 2900–3200m, III.2020, Bai-Jun Li leg.

Paratype: 1 female ( MYNU), Shiyueliang Township [石月亮乡], Fugong County [福 贡县], Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture [怒江傈僳族自治州], Yunnan, 2400–2700m, VI.2022, local collector leg .

Diagnosis – In general, this new species can be easily distinguished from all other flightless species (except for L. taotie sp. n., which is only known by males) by the shape of sclerotized plate in bursa copulatrix (with sparse and thinner spines on sclerotized plate, the spines at lateral sides longer or subequal to remaining parts) ( Fig. 4D View Fig ). This new species differs from the near zone distributed species L. taotie sp. n. by the enlarged distal portion of pronotum (while distinctly narrowed in L. taotie sp. n.) ( Fig. 2A–D View Fig ); two pairs of distinct foveae on pronotum (while indistinct in the latter); small and shallow punctures on ventral side (while large, deep and coarse in the latter); as well as the sinuate outer margin of the paramere (while straight in the latter) ( Fig. 3D & H View Fig ). The new species is similar in having two pairs of distinct foveae to L. diqingensis ( Fig. 1F View Fig ) ( PROSVIROV 2016 a, b), but it can be easily distinguished from the latter by the much smaller body (9.5 mm versus 13.2 mm), notably narrower posterior part of pronotum, more elongate elytra, shape of pronotal posterior angles (more or less narrowly rounded in L. yejiei , but broadly rounded in L. diqingensis), as well as by having the antennomeres 3–10 narrower than those in L. diqingensis.

Description – Male (holotype) ( Fig. 1C View Fig ). Body length 9.5 mm; width 2.8 mm. Body flattened, elongate. Integument almost matt, reddish brown; anterior margin of head, anterior margin and base of pronotum, pronotosternal suture, prosternal process, base of hypomeron, scutellar shield along margin, anterior margin of mesoventrite, area of coxa, epipleuron margin, metacoxal plate, and basal margin of elytra somewhat darkened. Body covered with golden, dense, tapered, and recumbent scale-like pubescence; pubescence on dorsum (head, pronotum, scutellar shield and elytra) much larger and longer than on other parts of body (ventral side, legs and antennae).

Head. Wider than long (length/width 0.66). Frons moderately deeply depressed almost over entire width. Punctures coarse and dense; intervals between punctures shagreen, smaller than diameter of one puncture. Mandible with tooth; apical segment of maxillary palpus subtriangular, rounded apically. Antennae short (2.7 mm), reaching beyond middle of pronotum, weakly serrate from antennomere 4 ( Fig. 2G View Fig ). Antennomere 1 robust and long; antennomere 2 shortest, almost globose; antennomere 3 1.2 times as long as antennomere 2; antennomere 4 almost as long as antennomere 2, and 0.8 times shorter than antennomere 3; antennomeres 5–10 distinctly widened and similar in shape, each almost as wide as long; last antennomere ovate, subapically very weakly tapered.

Thorax. Pronotum 1.9 times as wide as head, slightly longer than wide (length 2.7 mm; width 2.6 mm), widest near apical third, narrowed toward anterior angles more sharply than toward posterior portion ( Fig. 2C View Fig ). Anterior angles sharp, apices pointing slightly inwards. Lateral margins in middle somewhat truncate, basal third weakly convex, then strongly narrowed before posterior angles. Posterior angles of pronotum depressed, rath- er short, rounded at apex, strongly constricted and directed backwards, without carinae. Shallow impression groove throughout middle line, and bifurcate along anterior margin, two pairs of distinct foveae distributed laterally near middle and posterior portion, middle ones larger than posterior ones. Punctures coarse, very deep and dense, on average slightly larger than those on head; intervals between punctures shagreen, mostly smaller or equal to half diameter of one puncture. Prosternum gradually narrowed towards base. Pronotosternal sutures straight, deeply grooved from apices to basal third, then simply furrowed. Prosternal lobe broadly rounded, rather short, apex slightly prominent beyond anterior angles of hypomeron, base with transverse impression. Prosternal process in lateral view tapered, ventral margin strongly sloped towards apex, with small notch subapically, apex blunt. Prosternal punctures generally coarse, dense but shallow, those in middle distinctly larger than on pronotum; intervals between punctures in middle slightly shorter than diameter of one puncture; punctures on prosteronal lobe distinctly denser and smaller, intervals wrinkled; punctures between procoxae much smaller. Anterior and lateral parts of hypomeron with dense punctation, intervals between punctures on average shorter than diameter of one puncture; basal half of hypomeron with larger and sparser punctuation, intervals between punctures on average subequal to or greater than diameter of one puncture; intervals between punctures on hypomeron matt. Hypomeron basally with rather broad and deep depression for insertion of profemur; this depression impunctate and with surface uneven; hypomeron slightly impressed along prosternal suture. Mesoventrite and metaventrite punctate similarly, intervals between punctures mostly equal to diameter of one puncture. Metaventrite without depressions. Metacoxal plates abruptly narrowed from middle to lateral side. Scutellum tongue-shaped, basal margin weakly concave, apex rounded. Elytra length: 5.8 mm; width: 2.7 mm. Elytra elongate, sides subparallel, widest from middle to near apical third, slightly wider than pronotum, 2.1 times as long as pronotum. Shoulders obtusely rounded, distinctly constricted and protruded anteriorly; sides of elytra slightly widened from base to middle, then parallel in middle, apical portion rounded. Elytral disc flat, distinctly sloping towards apex from distal third; without striae, more or less evenly punctate and setose; punctures smaller than those on head and pronotum, intervals between punctures mostly subequal to 1–2 diameters of one puncture. Hind wings strongly reduced, vestigial wings elongate, not reaching middle of elytra.

Abdomen. Punctation of abdomen small and shallow, intervals between punctures subequal to 1–2 diameters of one puncture. Tergite VIII semi-oval, anterior margin well setose and less sclerotized, apex rounded ( Fig. 3G View Fig ); tergite IX with hind margin slightly concave, distal portion with two rounded lobes only weakly protruded, median weakly concave; tergite X roundly protruding, wider than long, anterior margin less sclerotized ( Fig. 3F View Fig ). Sternite VIII with two elongate, oblique, setose and well sclerotized portions laterally, apex concave ( Fig. 3G View Fig ); sternite IX short, subquadrate at base, hind margin slightly concave in middle, basal portion transparent, lateral margins constricted near middle, distal portion tongue-shaped, pubescent, apex rounded ( Fig. 3E View Fig ).

Male genitalia. Parameres longer than median lobe, sinuate at outer margin medially (concaved near middle and convex at both base and distal portion), apex roundly protruded, slightly narrowed, with small sharp processes subapically. Median lobe robust, apical portion distinctly tapering, apex blunt ( Fig. 3H View Fig ).

Female. Similar to male ( Fig. 1D View Fig ), but body smaller (9.1 mm), antennae shorter (2.3 mm), with less serrated antennomeres ( Fig. 2H View Fig ). Pronotum with lateral margins concave at basal third, posterior angles pointed apically ( Fig. 2D View Fig ). Abdominal tergite VIII round- ed, basal portion medially less sclerotized ( Fig. 4A View Fig ); sternite VIII greatly wider than long, apical portion rounded, spiculum ventrale slender, about 3 times as long as sternite VIII length ( Fig. 4B View Fig ). Ovipositor short; coxite moderately long, apical portion narrowed, sparsely pubescent laterally, stylus small, attached subapically ( Fig. 4C View Fig ). Bursa copulatrix with large sclerotized plate typical for this genus, covered with short spinules and long, usually thin spines, distally without small sclerotized plate ( Fig. 4D View Fig ); sac-like spermatophore inside bursa copulatrix.

Variability. The female shows slight differences in the shape of pronotum, the shape of antennomeres, as well as the length of antennae ( Fig. 2 View Fig C-D, G-H), but in all other respects female is similar to the male.

Larva. Unknown.

Distribution – China: Yunnan.

Bionomics – This species inhabits both sides of Nushan mountain range (2,400–3,200 m of West and East slopes) between Lancangjiang River and Nujiang River [怒江]. Its biology remains unknown .

Etymology – Named after Ye-Jie Lin (Beijing) for his continuous help with obtaining

Elateridae specimens for the first author.

KEY TO THE KNOWN FLIGHTLESS SPECIES OF LACON FROM View in CoL CHINA

1. Metathoracic wings reduced, not reaching or reaching about the middle of elytra 2

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Insecta

Order

Coleoptera

Family

Elateridae

Genus

Lacon

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