Pterostichus (Circinatus) pohnerti Jedlicka , 1934

Shi, Hongliang & Liang, Hongbin, 2015, The genus Pterostichus in China II: the subgenus Circinatus Sciaky, a species revision and phylogeny (Carabidae, Pterostichini), ZooKeys 536, pp. 1-92 : 38-39

Taxon classification Animalia Coleoptera Carabidae

Pterostichus (Circinatus) pohnerti Jedlicka, 1934 Figures 26, 47, 56, 85, 111

Pterostichus (Circinatus) pohnerti Jedlička 1934: 19 (Original: Pterostichus (incertae sedis); holotype deposited in NMPC); Jedlička 1962: 298 ( Pterostichus (incertae sedis)); Sciaky 1996: 221; Bousquet 2003: 488; Lorenz 2005: 280; Allegro and Sciaky 2010: 7.

Type locality.

The original literature mentioned the locality “Tatsienlu”, without further details. But the label of the holotype indicates that the type locality is “Kiulung” (= Jiulong), a county west of Gonggashan Mountain.

Type material examined.

Holotype of Pterostichus pohnerti Jedlička (NMPC), male, body length = 10.9 mm, board mounted, with left foreleg, right hind tarsomeres (apical four segments), left antenna (apical ten antennomeres) and right antenna (apical six antennomeres) missing, genitalia dissected and stored in micro vial pinned under specimen, "Tatsienlu-Kiulung / China Em. Reitter"; ”TYPE” [red label]; "Mus. Nat. Prague / Inv. 22407" [orange label]; " Pohnerti / type, sp. n., / DET. ING. JEDLIČKA” [pink label].

Non-type material examined

(66 specimens). 3 males, 4 females (IZAS), "China, Sichuan, Luding county, Moxi town, way btw. Moxi and Yajiageng pass, mixed forest, 3204 m, N 29.84110, E 102.04802, by pit fall trap, 2012.VII.11, SHI Hongliang & WANG Ya’nan lgt."; 1 male, 3 females (IZAS), "Sichuan, Luding, Moxi, 1990.VII.6, T. Deuve & XIE Weiping lgt."; 1 male (IZAS), "Sichuan, Luding, Hailuogou, 3000 m, 2004.VIII.8, BAI Ming lgt."; 4 males, 5 females (IZAS), "China, Sichuan, Luding, Hailuogou, 3200, 2011.7.16, Huang Hao"; 13 males, 5 females (IZAS), "China, Sichuan Prov., Luding, Hailuogou, Caohaizi, N29.58228, E102.02171, 2775 m, 2009.V.18, Liang H.B. lgt."; 1 male, 8 females (IZAS), "China, Sichuan Prov., Luding, Hailuogou, Guanjingtai, N29.56721, E101.97994, 3155 m, 2009.V.16, Yang G.Y. lgt."; 2 males (IZAS), "China, Sichuan, Tianquan, Erlangshan, 2500 m, 2011.VIII.5, Huang Hao lgt."; 9 males, 7 females (IZAS), "China, Sichuan, Baoxing county, Jiajinshan mt., Mahuanggou, mixed forest, N30.85669, E102.76615, 2012.VI.29 D 2681 m, Liu Ye, Shi Hongliang leg.".

Diagnosis.

Pronotum with single mid-lateral seta; posterior seta distant from hind angle, hind angle completely rounded; outer basal foveal groove distinct, approx half length of inner one, forming a short ridge close to hind angle; basal fovea area finely punctate; elytron with sharp humeral tooth; elytral with faint linear microsculpture; fifth tarsomeres glabrous beneath; terminal sternum of male not modified.

This species is very similar to Pterostichus xilingensis . They are difficult to separate by external appearance (the only difference is the punctures in the pronotal basal fovea (see the key), but this does not always distinguish them), but they can be easily determined by their allopatric

Distribution.

In male and female genitalia, these two species are different. In Pterostichus pohnerti : median lobe of aedeagus stouter; apical lamella triangular, strongly narrowed to apex; endophallus extending in apical direction of aedeagus; female transparent region on sternum VIII V-shaped, with very long and narrow extensions. In Pterostichus xilingensis : median lobe of aedeagus much slenderer; apical lamella wide, slightly narrowed to apex; endophallus extending in apical-dorsal direction of aedeagus; female transparent region on sternum VIII nearly quadrate, with very short extensions.

Supplemental description.

Male sternum. Penultimate and terminal sterna without special structures. Endophallus (Fig. 47D, E, G) short and straight, extending in apical direction of aedeagus, major portion of endophallus located beyond apical lamella; gonopore (gp) located at level near aedeagal apex, pointing to ventral face of aedeagus, gonopore lobe (gpl, fully everted in Fig. 47) bent in basal direction of aedeagus. Four distinct parts recognized: basal lobe (bl) close to base of apical lamella, very small, approx triangular; main piece (mp) large and galericulate, with three branches, covering gpl, apical opening of gpl pointing out from ventral notch between mp branches; apical band (ab) close to gp, also covered by mp, half chitinized, and the rest half scaled and extended to inner margin of pa; pre-apical lobe (pa) small and compressed, ear-like, with fine and dense scales. Female genitalia. Spermatheca (Fig. 56) with seminal canal approx 4.5 times as long as receptaculum; receptaculum capitate, club approx one third as long as receptaculum; seminal canal inserted at base of common oviduct, base of seminal canal with sclerotized region long. Stylomere II with two ensiform setae at basal half of outer margin, and a small one near middle of inner margin; two short nematiform setae located in a furrow near apex. Female sternum VIII (Fig. 85B) with fine and dense setae on posterior margin; posterior margin almost straight, strongly notched in middle; anterior region semi-chitinized, deeply notched in middle; middle transparent region V-shaped, adjacent to anterior and posterior notches in middle. Female tergum VIII (Fig. 85A) short, major portion chitinized, apical fourth semi-chitinized, with very sparse spots; anterior margin weakly notched in middle, posterior margin evenly arcuate.

Distribution.

Pterostichus pohnerti is recorded from four counties of central Sichuan province: Luding (Gonggashan range), Jiulong (type locality), Baoxing (south slope of Jiajinshan), and Tianquan (east slope of Erlangshan). This species is very common and the only known Circinatus species in the Gonggashan range. A large number of specimens was collected from several localities around this mountain. Outside the Gonggashan range, it is also distributed in Baoxing and Tianquan, where it overlaps the range of Pterostichus beneshi . (Maps 2, 3)

Affinities.

Pterostichus pohnerti could be closest to Pterostichus xilingensis based on the similarity in external characters. However, in the stout aedeagus and endophallus extending to the aedeagal apex, Pterostichus pohnerti could be allied with some species in the agilis -group. Moreover, Pterostichus pohnerti has the southernmost distribution in the pohnerti -group, which is the closest distribution to the range of the agilis -group. Based on these distributions, we infer that the systematic position of Pterostichus pohnerti could be between Pterostichus xilingensis and the agilis -group.

Geographical variation.

We studied males from three localities: Hailuogou (N29.58°, E102.02°), Erlangshan (N29.88°, E102.30°), and Baoxing (N30.86°, E102.77°), and found no differences in external, aedeagal or endophallic characters.