Queinnectrechus (Gaoligongtrechus) balli Deuve, 2016

Deuve, Thierry, Kavanaugh, David H. & Liang, Hongbin, 2016, Inventory of the Carabid Beetle Fauna of the Gaoligong Mountains, Western Yunnan Province, China: Species of the Tribe Trechini (Coleoptera: Caraboidea), with Descriptions of Four New Genera, One New Subgenus and 19 New Species., Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 63 (12), pp. 341-455 : 373-376

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.13155283
publication LSID	lsid:zoobank.org:pub:4C790FE0-B735-4592-8827-EEF83C663CB1
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03D6879D-FFB5-FFAA-3C2C-626AFC5F7233
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Queinnectrechus (Gaoligongtrechus) balli Deuve
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Queinnectrechus (Gaoligongtrechus) balli Deuve View in CoL and Kavanaugh, sp. nov.

( Figs. 14 View FIGURE , 37b View FIGURE , 39b View FIGURE , 40a View FIGURE , 46–48 View FIGURE View FIGURE View FIGURE )

TYPE MATERIAL.— Holotype, a male, in IOZ, labeled: “CASENT 1001935”/ “ CHINA, Yunnan Province, Gaoligong Shan, Nujiang Prefecture, Nujiang State Nature Reserve , Dulong / Gongshan Yakou [= Qiqi / Dulong divide] area, 21 airkm W of Gongshan,”/ “ N27.69655° / E98.45389°, 3300-3680m, 16-17 July 2000, Stop#00-24C, D.H. Kavanaugh , C.E. Griswold, Liang H.-B., D. Ubick, & Dong D.-Z. collectors”/ “ HOLOTYPE Queinnectrechus (Gaoligongtrechus) balli Deuve & Kavanaugh, sp. nov. designated 2016” [red label] GoogleMaps . Paratypes (a total of 32): 2 males and 12 females (in CAS, IOZ, MNHN) labeled same as holotype except first label “CASENT 1001933” to “CASENT 1001934” and “CASENT 1001936” to “CASENT 1001947”, respectively ; 1 female (in CAS) labeled “CASENT 1010343”/ “ CHINA, Yunnan, Gongshan County, Cikai Township , 52.6 km W of Gongshan on Dulong Valley Road, 3360-3380 m,”/ “ N27.77032° / E098.44661°, 1- 2 October 2002, Stop #DHK-2002-034, D.H. Kavanaugh & P.E. Marek collectors” GoogleMaps ; 1 female (in CAS) labeled “CASENT 1024375”/ “ CHINA, Yunnan, Gongshan County, Cikai Township, southeast slope of Heipu Yakou , 3365 m, N27.77032° / E098.44674°,”/ “ 11 August 2006, Stop #DHK-2006-069A, D.H. Kavanaugh , J.A. Miller, D.Z. Dong, & Y. Liu collectors” GoogleMaps ; 3 males and 2 females (in IOZ, MNHN) labeled “CASENT 1025840” to “CASENT 1025842” and “CASENT 1025838” to “CASENT 1025839”, respectively/ “ CHINA, Yunnan, Gongshan County, Bingzhongluo Township, SW slope of Kawakarpu Shan , 0.3 km SW of Chukuai Lake at campsite,”/ “ N27.97686° / E098.44779°, 3750 m, 19 August 2006, Stop #DHK-2006-082 Y. Liu collector” GoogleMaps ; 1 female (in CAS) labeled “CASENT 1026202”/ “ CHINA, Yunnan, Gongshan County, Bingzhongluo Township, SW slope of Kawakarpu Shan , 0.3 km NNE of Chukuai Lake, N27.98393° / E098.47491°,”/ “ 3745 m, 19 August 2006, Stop #DHK-2006-081 D.H. Kavanaugh , J.A. Miller, & D.Z. Dong collectors” GoogleMaps ; 5 males and 2 females (in CAS, IOZ) labeled ““CASENT 1026323” to “CASENT 1026327” and “CASENT 1026328” to “CASENT 1026329”, respectively/ “ CHINA, Yunnan, Gongshan County, Cikai Township , 0.1 km SE of Heipu Yakou in valley below tunnel, N27.76978° / E98.44681°,”/ “ 3720 m, 13 August 2006, Stop #DHK-2006-073 D.H. Kavanaugh & J.A. Miller collectors” GoogleMaps ; 1 male (in CAS) labeled “CASENT 1026707”/ “ CHINA, Yunnan, Gongshan County, Dulongjiang Township, NW slope of Heipu Yakou , 3350 m, N27.77437° / E098.44793°,”/ “ 13 August 2006, Stop #DHK-2006-075 D.H. Kavanaugh & J.A. Miller collectors” GoogleMaps ; 2 females (in IOZ) labeled “CASENT 1026817” and “CASENT 1026818”, respectively/ “ CHINA, Yunnan, Gongshan County, Bingzhongluo Township, SW slope of Kawakarpu Shan at Chukuai Lake , 3720 m,”/ “ N27.98121° / E098.47580°, 18 August 2006 Stop #DHK-2006-079 J.A. Miller, D.Z. Dong, & Y. Liu collectors”. All paratypes also bear the following label: “ PARATYPE Queinnectrechu s (Gaoligongtrechus) balli Deuve & Kavanaugh, sp. nov. designated 2016” [yellow label] GoogleMaps .

TYPE LOCALITY.— China, Yunnan, Gaoligong Shan, Gongshan County, Qiqi / Dulong divide area, N27.69655° / E98.45389°, 3300-3680 m GoogleMaps .

DERIVATION OF SPECIES NAME.— The species epithet, balli , is the Latinized form (in the genitive case) of the surname of George Eugene Ball, Professor Emeritus at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada — our mentor, dear friend, and one of the world’s most accomplished and inspirational systematists. We are pleased to name this extraordinary species in his honor.

DIAGNOSIS.— Adults of this species ( Fig. 14a View FIGURE ) can be distinguished from those of all other trechine species in the region by the combination of character states noted in the diagnosis for this genus.

DESCRIPTION.— Size moderate, BL = 4.3 to 4.8 mm. Color of dorsum dark, forebody dark reddish brown, elytra piceous to black, antennae and legs reddish brown, palpi slightly paler, reddish tan; surface smooth and markedly shiny.

Head. Slightly elongate, with eyes small but convex, their diameter less than length of tempora. Tempora not or only slightly convex, glabrous, and joined to neck region at a markedly obtuse (ca. 150°) angle. Frons with deep frontal furrow that delimit three (two lateral and medial) very convex areas, however furrows abruptly interrupted or less impressed posteriorly; two pairs of supraorbital seta present, the anterior pair inserted near middle of eyes, the posterior pair inserted dorsally on the tempora near the postocular furrow. Clypeus with four setae. Labrum with six setae, anterior margin distinctly concave. Right mandible tridentate, with the middle tooth reduced, obtuse, left mandible with premolar tooth fused with retinaculum to form a small caniniform process with a sharp tip. Mentum and submentum fused. Mentum with medial tooth broad, truncate, about half as long as lateral lobes, the latter apically pointed. Submentum with six setae anteriorly. Genae with a single ventral seta on each side. Antennae pubescent from apical half of scape distally, extended posteriorly to basal one-third of elytra, with four antennomeres posterior to the pronotal base, antennomere 3 slightly longer than antennomere 4.

Pronotum. Narrowly cordate, not transverse, about as long as wide (PW/PL = 1.0), markedly narrowed posteriorly, the lateral margins distinctly sinuate anterior to basal angles, the latter acute, projected, but without digitiform extensions. Disc markedly convex, globose, glabrous; median longitudinal impression faintly impressed; basal foveae formed as small, deep, circular pits, medi- an basal area smooth, faintly delimited, basal margin dilated medially as a broad, round projection. Lateral margination narrow, evident only in anterior one-third, effaced in posterior two-thirds. Two or three anteromedial setae and a single basal seta present on each side, the latter inserted slightly but distinctly anterior to basal angle.

Elytra. Elytral silhouette tear-shaped, narrower anteriorly than posteriorly, widest distinctly posterior to middle, humeri effaced, basal part of lateral explanation not visible from above. Disc markedly convex and smooth, with basal part abruptly and truncate, concave, fitted to convex base of pronotum, without distinct discal striae, except recurrent stria short but evidently impressed. Parascutellar setiferous pore present. Four to six discal setae present and aligned near presumed location of stria 3. Preapical seta present, inserted slightly more medially than the row of discal setae. Umbilicate setal series with setae of humeral group aggregated with distance between first and second setae less than between second and third and third and fourth, setae of median group distinctly posterior to middle.

Legs. Moderately long but slender; protibiae with longitudinal furrow, sparely pubescent apically on anterior surface. Male protarsomeres 1 and 2 dilated and apicomedially toothed.

Abdomen. Abdominal ventrites glabrous, except for a single paramedial seta on each side and ventrite VII of females with two setae on each side.

Male aedeagus. Median lobe ( Fig. 14b View FIGURE ) slender, bent basally about 90° to shaft, basal bulb with a large sagittal aileron, apex short and slightly narrowed, blunt; endophallus with a pair of slender sclerites tapered to points on both ends.

COMMENTS.— Members of this new genus exhibit practically the same chaetotaxic pattern as those of genus Kozlovites Jeannel (1935) , with a row of four to six discal setae apparently aligned on interval 3 in or near stria 3 and a preapical seta apparently inserted on interval 3 near stria 2 but in a position forward of the level of the anterior tip of the recurrent stria. However, Gaoligongtrechus members are distinguished from those of Kozlovites (and of Uenoites Belousov and Kabak 2016 ) by the extreme convexity of both the pronotum and elytra, which are of similar form to that seen in members of Queinnectrechus (s. str.), and by the posterior projection of the pronotal basal area and margin and its fit with the modified elytral base. Additional distinguishing features include the lateral marginations, each of which bears one or two anteromedial setae and is effaced in the posterior two-thirds, the effaced elytral discal striae, the medial tooth of the mentum truncate rather than bifid, the abdominal ventrites each with only a single pair of paramedial setae, except for the female ventrite VII which has two pairs of subapical paramedial setae, as is typical among Trechini . In addition, Belousov and Kabak (2016) considered the apex of the male median lobe formed as a large apical hook as a synapomorphy for Kozlovites species. The apex of the medi- an lobe of Q. (G.) balli males ( Fig. 14b View FIGURE ) has no trace of a hook; and the slender shaft and abruptly bent (at a 90° angle) basal region are unlike that seen in males of any described Kozlovites or Uenoites species.

Members of subgenus Gaoligongtrechus differ from those of subgenus Queinnectrechus Deuve and Dactylotrechus Belousov and Kabak, (2003) , in having the basal pronotal angles simple, without the digitiform extensions seen in members of these two genera. Like Dactylotrechus members, those of our new subgenus have anterolateral setae in the pronotal margins and a preapical seta apparently inserted near stia 2; however, this seta is inserted farther forward, in a subdiscal position, in Q. (G.) balli members.

HABITAT DISTRIBUTION.— Members of this species have been found under stones on moist, organic substrate in alpine meadows, slopes and ridges with low, dense to sparse herbaceous vegetation, at elevations ranging from 3300 to 3750 m ( Fig. 37b View FIGURE , 39b View FIGURE , 40a View FIGURE ). One specimen was collected at night, found walking on the barren slope of a roadcut at 3350 m elevation. Members of this species have been found together (syntopic) repeatedly with specimens of Queinnectrechus gongshanicus , Queinnectrechus griswoldi , Trechus gongshanensis sp. nov., and Trechus qiqiensis sp. nov.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION WITHIN THE GAOLIGONG SHAN.— Fig. 14c View FIGURE . We examined a total of 33 specimens (12 males and 21 females), all from the northern part of the Gaoligong Shan, in Bingzhongluo, Cikai and Dulongjiang Townships in Gongshan County (see Type material above for exact collection data). These localities are in Core Areas 1 and 2 .

OVERALL GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION.— This species currently is known only from the northern part of the Gaoligong Shan, in western Yunnan Province, China.