Laena haigouica Schawaller, 2001

Wei, Zhonghua & Ren, Guodong, 2019, Description of larva and pupa of Laenahaigouica (Tenebrionidae, Laenini) from China based on morphology and four DNA makers, ZooKeys 852, pp. 101-109 : 101

Laena haigouica Schawaller, 2001

Laena haigouica Schawaller, 2001: 19-20, figs 41-44. Type locality: China, Sichuan, Jiuzhaigou.

Specimens examined.

Larvae (11 ex), pupae (2 ex), adults (4♂7♀), Sichuan, Jiuzhaigou, Zhongcha rangeland, 2870 m, 27.VII.2016, Xiumin Li, Xinglong Bai, Xianlei Shao & Runyang Zhang leg., HBUM.

Larva.

Diagnosis. The larva of L. haigouica Schawaller, 2001 can be separated from L. starcki Reitter, 1887 by following characters: clypeus transverse, 3.3 times wider than long, surface with four long erect setae; abdominal spiracles on lateral margins of tergites III–VIII in middle or just before middle.

Description. The description is based on what is probably a later instar larva. Body length 15-17 mm. Body (Fig. 1 A–C) elongate, parallel-sided, subcylindrical; setose; integument soft; white to light brown in colour; thoracic and abdominal segments subcylindrical. Abdomen without defensive glands.

Head. (Fig. 2 A–B). Light brown. Weakly declined; width slightly narrower than prothorax; distinctly constricted before occipital foramen; sides rounded; punctation minute, dense, separated by 1-3 puncture diameters. Epicranial suture stem length approximately one-half head capsule length; frontal arms Y-shaped. Frons smooth. Epicranial plates light brown, smooth, with sparse short and few long erect setae; lateral portion with both short and long erect, setation denser than dorsal part; ventral portion of each plate with three long erect setae and sparse short setae. One small stemmata present on each epicranial plate, before Y-shaped frontal arms. Labrum transverse, widest in middle, surface convex, with six to seven long erect setae; anterior margin weakly protruding; lateral margins curved, contracted at apical part. Clypeus transverse, surface convex, with four long erect setae. Mandible well developed, with two small teeth on anterior inner sides. Maxillary palpi cylindrical, apex (Fig. 2E) with nine sensilla knobble. Ligula (Fig. 2C) apex with two long erect setae. Mentum longer than wide, widest in middle. Anterior margin of gula distinctly narrower than posterior margin. Antenna (Fig. 2D) short than head, tri-segmented, clavate; second segment longer than first, third segment small and rounded, prominent, surrounded by seven long erect setae.

Thorax. Thoracic tergites light yellow. Prothoracic tergum subquadrate, longer than wide, 1.4-1.5 times as long as meso- or metatergites; surface with short and long erect setae. Meso- and metatergites wider than long; surface with short and long erect setae. Spiracles oval; prothoracic and metathoracic without spiracle; mesothoracic spiracles on anterolateral part, largest, approximately twice size of abdominal spiracles. Metathoracic tergum distinctly wider than pro- and mesothoracic tergum. Coxal cavity distinctly separate.

Abdomen. Abdominal tergites light brown, slightly darker than sternites; surface smooth, with short and long erect setae. Abdominal tergites I–VIII wider than long, widest in middle; lateral margins of abdominal tergites curved. Abdominal tergite IX distinctly narrower than tergite VIII; anterior margin distinctly wider than posterior margin; tergite IX posteriorly round, armed with pair of acute urogomphi (Fig. 2F, J, K). Abdominal spiracles on lateral margins of tergites III–VIII in middle or just before middle.

Legs. Surface with long erect setae; proleg (Fig. 2G) distinctly longer, slightly thicker than meso- and metalegs (Fig. 2 H–I); tarsungulus sickle-shaped, prothoracic tarsungulus more sclerotized than meso- and metathoracic tarsungulus; prothoracic trochanter shortest and thickest; posterior trochanter short and thick; prothoracic tibia curved, slightly longer and slender than meso- and metathoracic tibia.

Pupa.

Diagnosis. Compared to the known pupa of Lagria villosa described by Spilman (1978) and pupa of Centorus procerus moldaviensis described by Cherney (2005) in subfamily Lagriinae, the pupa of Laena can be easily separated by light color, sparse setae, urogomphi 0.7 (n=2) times length of tergite IX, lateral margins of abdominal segments I–VII each with tubercle bearing long erect setae, abdominal tergites I–VIII with tubercles.

Description.

Body length 10.5-11.2 mm, body width 2.5-2.9 mm; body white to light brown (Fig. 3 A–C), with darker apices of spine on urogomphi, with black eyes, and light brown mandible apices; body with sparse long erect setae, setae yellow; abdominal tergites with developed lateral processes bearing two to three long erect setae; abdominal tergum IX with paired upturned urogomphi.

Head. Dorsal surface smooth, concealed (invisible in dorsal view). Anterior margin of labrum rounded, with sparse short setae. Clypeus with two long erect setae on each anterolateral side. Frons and vertex with sparse granules bearing long erect setae. Eye ovate, black. Mandible apices brown. Antenna long and thick; antennomeres IV–XI with small brown spots on apex in dorsal view, without setae.

Thorax. Pronotum transverse. Anterior margin straight, with eight granules bearing long erect setae; anterior angles subrectangular, posterior angles rounded; lateral margins curved, each side with seven granules bearing long erect setae. Disc surface convex, with sparse granules bearing long erect setae. Mesonotum and metanotum distinctly narrower than pronotum, each with four setae posteriorly. Mesoventrite, metaventrite and elytra glabrous.

Abdomen. Abdominal spiracles ovate. Tergites I–VIII each with four pairs of setae (Fig. 3E). Lateral margins of abdominal segments I–VII each with tubercle (Fig. 3D) bearing two to three long erect setae, VIII and IX each with three small tubercles each bearing long erect seta. Tergites I–VII transversely convex in middle. Tergite IX posteriorly rounded, with pair of apically sclerotized urogomphi bearing one to two setae at base, ventrite with setae denser than tergite. Ventrites V–VI with four long erect setae. Ventrites VII–IX with setae denser than ventrites I–VI.

Legs. Prolegs distinctly longer than meso- and metalegs. Femora covered with sparse erect setae. Tibiae and tarsi glabrous, without setae.

Comment. These two specimens probably represent early stage pupa, which have the body colour light and antenna and tarsi near translucent.

DNA markers.

The mtDNA COI sequences respectively from the larva, pupa and adult were identical after sequence alignment. The gene fragments of 16S, 28S, COI, and Cytb are deposited in GenBank with the accession numbers MK227697, MK227698, MK227699 (pupa), MK227700 (larva), MK227701, and MK227702.