Trechepaphiama gaoligong 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 : 430-432

Trechepaphiama gaoligong Deuve and Kavanaugh, sp. nov.

( Figs. 16h , 34 , 37a , 46–48 )

TYPE MATERIAL.— Holotype, a female, in IOZ, labeled: “CASENT 1001926”/ “ CHINA, Yunnan Province, Gaoligongshan Mountains, Nujiang Prefecture , 9 [actually 9.3] km ESE of Pianma, 25°59.6’N/ 98°37.6’E.”/ “2450 [actually 2460-2470] m, 15-18 October 1998, Stop #98-118D D.H. Kavanaugh , C.E. Griswold, C. Ferraris & C.-L. Long collectors”/ “IMAGE” [green label]/ “ HOLOTYPE Trechepaphiama gaoligong Deuve & Kavanaugh, sp. nov. designated 2016” [red label].

TYPE LOCALITY.— China, Yunnan, Gaoligong Shan , Lushui County, 9.3 km ESE of Pianma, N25.99363° / E98.66651°, 2460-2470 m .

DERIVATION OF SPECIES NAME.— The species epithet, gaoligong , is a noun in apposition, derived from the name of the mountain range, the Gaoligong Shan, in which the holotype was collected .

DIAGNOSIS.— Adults of this species ( Fig. 34a ) can be distinguished from those of all other species in the region by the following combination of character states: size large (BL = 4.2 mm), apterous; body color reddish brown, dorsum shiny; eyes reduced, their diameter about equal to length of tempora, the latter distinctly convex and glabrous; pronotum moderately transverse (ratio PW/PL = 1.26), basal angles subrectangular; elytra broad, markedly convex, slightly inflated, humeri broadly rounded, striae 1 to 5 deeply impressed and slightly punctate, more lateral striae more or less effaced, intervals 1 to 4 slightly convex, more lateral intervals flat; recurrent stria anteriorly nearly continuous with posterior end of stria 5; discal setiferous pores absent; preapical seta present, inserted on interval 3 next to stria 2.

DESCRIPTION.— Size large, BL 4.2 mm. Body color reddish brown, appendages concolorous, except palpi yellowish brown, dorsum smooth, shiny, pronotum and elytra very faintly iridescent, head faintly alutaceous due to moderately impressed isodiametric microsculpture

Head. Moderate in size, slightly broad; eyes small, only slightly projected laterally, their diameter about equal to length of tempora, the latter short, convex and glabrous. Frons only slightly convex, with frontal furrows deeply impressed but less so posterior to hind margins of eyes. Two pairs of supraorbital setae present, the anterior pair inserted in distinct foveae. Clypeus with four setae. Labrum with six setae, anterior margin moderately concave. Right mandible ( Fig. 16h ) with premolar tooth fused with retinaculum, anterior tip of retinaculum enlarged to form a distinct tooth and displaced distally, posterior tip of retinaculum reduced, nearly flattened. Left mandible with only a relatively small, feebly trifid tooth. Mentum and submentum not fused. Mentum with medial tooth broad, apically rounded, about one-half the length of the lateral lobes. Submentum with four setae anteriorly. Gula broad. Genae with a single ventral seta one each side. Antennae rather short, only about two antennomeres extended posteriorly beyond basal pronotal margin; antennomeres 2 and 4 about equal in length, antennomere 3 slightly longer.

Pronotum. Slightly narrow (ratio PW/PL = 1.26), with greatest width anterior to middle, only slightly narrowed posteriorly; lateral margins rounded, straightened for a short distance posteriorly, then very slightly sinuate just anterior to basal angles, the latter blunt and subrectangular, very slightly and bluntly projected laterally; basal margin with median region slightly and convexly projected posteriorly. Disc distinctly convex, with median longitudinal impression very finely impressed, superficial, effaced in the median anterior area but extended to basal margin; basal foveae distinct but shallow; median basal area small, delimited laterally by a pair of oblique furrows, smooth except for several short longitudinal depressions; basal margin slightly bisinuate, slightly convex medially; lateral borders slender, gradually widened posteriorly, faintly reflexed dorsally, lateral grooves widened near base. Single midlateral setae on each side inserted anterior to middle; single basolateral seta on each side, inserted at basal angle.

Elytra. Broad, ovoid, slightly more narrowed posteriorly than anteriorly, markedly convex, slightly inflated; humeri broadly rounded; striae 1 to 5 deeply impressed and slightly punctate, more lateral striae more or less effaced, barely evident; intervals 1 to 4 slightly convex, more lateral intervals flat; basal margination terminated medially at origin of stria 5. Parascutellar striole present, short but distinct. Recurrent stria anteriorly nearly continuous with posterior end of stria 5. Discal setiferous pores absent. Preapical seta present, inserted on interval 3 next to stria 2. Umbilicate setal series with setae of humeral group equidistance from each other and setae of medi- an group inserted slightly posterior to middle.

Legs. Short; protibiae with longitudinal furrow.

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

HABITAT DISTRIBUTION.— The unique holotype female of this species was collected by sifting leaf litter taken on sandy substrate on a secondary floodplain covered by a broadleaf forest canopy at an elevation of 2460 m ( Fig. 37a ). Specimens of Trechepaphiopsis uniporosa and T. unisetosa were collected in the same sifted litter samples at this site.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION WITHIN THE GAOLIGONG SHAN.— Fig. 34b . This species is known only from a single female specimen from the type locality in western Lushui County on the western slope of the southcentral part of the Gaoligong Shan region. This locality is in Core Area 4 .

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

Figures

FIGURE 16. Trechine right mandibles, ventral aspect. a. Agonotrechus xiaoheishan sp. nov. b. Trechus indicus Putzeys with dentition enlarged. c. Trechus gongshanensis sp. nov. d. Trechus shibalicus sp. nov. e. Pseudepaphius gonggaicus Deuve with dentition enlarged (China, Sichuan Province, Moxi Township, NE slope of Gongga Shan). f. Trechepaphiopsis uniporosa sp. nov. with dentition enlarged. g. Epaphiotrechus fortipesoides sp. nov. with dentition enlarged. h. Trechepaphiama gaoligong sp. nov. Scale lines = 0.5 mm.

FIGURE 34. Trechepaphiama gaoligong sp. nov.; a. Dorsal habitus (CASENT1001926). b. Map of locality record (red circle) for T. gaoligong in the Gaoligong Shan region. Scale lines a = 0.5 mm, b = 100 km.

FIGURE 37. Photographs of habitats for trechine species in the Gaoligong Shan region. a. Lushui County, Pianma Township,9.3 km ENE of Pianma along road to Lushui at Changyan He, elevation 2460 m; habitat in which specimens of Trechepaphiopsis unisetosa (Deuve), T. uniporosa sp. nov., and Trechepaphiama gaoligong sp. nov. were collected. b. Gongshan County, Cikai Township, slope S of of Heipu Yakou, elevation 3370 m; habitat in which specimens of Queinnectrechus griswoldi sp. nov., Q. balli sp. nov., and Trechus qiqiensis sp. nov. were collected. Photos by David H. Kavanaugh.

FIGURE 46. Chart showing the representation of trechine species in project-designated Core Areas (see Fig. 3) in the Gaoligong Shan region.

FIGURE 47. Chart illustrating the altitudinal ranges of trechine species represented in the Gaoligong Shan region.

FIGURE. 48. Chart illustrating the co-occurence (syntopy) of trechine species in samples from the same habitats and at the same sites in the Gaoligong Shan region.