Araneibatrus Yin & Li

Yin, Zi-Wei, Li, Li-Zhen & Zhao, Mei-Jun, 2010, Araneibatrus gracilipes gen. et sp. n., a remarkable Batrisitae (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Pselaphinae) from P. R. China, ZooKeys 69, pp. 53-58 : 54-55

Araneibatrus Yin & Li gen. n.

Type species.

Araneibatrus gracilipes Yin et Li, sp. n.

Diagnosis.

Head slightly elongate, sides round. Eyes situated at anterior half of head. Antenna conspicuously elongate, club loosely three-segmented, terminal segment large. Pronotum with pairs of tubercles, a pair of lateral antebasal foveae, a pair of outer basolateral foveae and a pair of inner basolateral foveae. Each elytron with three basal foveae, discal stria present. Subhumeral elytral fovea present, indistinct. Legs conspicuously elongate. Abdominal segments successively narrower posteriad, with round apex. Segment IV large. Tergite IV with paratergites forming a pair of triangular plates. Aedeagus elongate, basal bulb large, with flattened membrane and hook-like sclerite, median lobe elongate and well sclerotized, with elongate dorsal apophysis.

Description.

Head with vertexal sulcus absent. Vertexal foveae small. Eyes relatively small, convex. Antennae 11-segmented, conspicuously elongate, with thick scape and loosely three-segmented club, terminal antennomere large. Pronotum nearly hexagonal, with pair of lateral antebasal foveae, pair of outer basolateral foveae, and pair of inner basolateral foveae. Elytron with three basal foveae, subhumeral elytral fovea present. Sutural stria absent, discal stria faint, marginal stria present. Venter with pair of lateral mesoventral foveae, pair of lateral mesocoxal foveae, and pair of lateral metaventral foveae. Abdomen moderately narrow and round apically. Tergite IV large. Paratergites IV present as pair of triangular plates.

Remarks.

Members of Araneibatrus can be distinguished from other Asian genera of Tribasodes genus-group in their conspicuously elongate antennae and legs; metatrochanter without protuberance and the structure of aedeagus. Though the new genus is tentatively placed in Tribasodes group, we recognize that the metacrochanter without protuberance and form of aedeagus is like in the other members of Batrisocenus group.

Bionomics.

Only one male specimen was collected during a long-term investigation on the soil beetles of Nan’ling National Nature Reserve, indicating that this is a rare species or that we have not found a method of finding individuals.

Distribution.

Guangdong Province (South China)

Etymology.

The generic name is derived from the Latin word “araneosus”, meaning “spider-like”, and combined with an arbitrary rearrangement of Batrisus Aubé, 1833, the type genus of Batrisitae. Gender masculine.