Agonotrechus fugongensis Deuve and Liang, 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 : 353-356

Agonotrechus fugongensis Deuve and Liang , sp. nov.

( Figs. 7 , 35b , 36a , 46–48 )

TYPE MATERIAL.— Holotype, a male, in IOZ, labeled: “CASENT 1019979”/ “ CHINA, Yunnan, Fugong County, Lishadi Township , 0 to 2 km E of Shibali on Shibali Road, N27.16536° / E098.78003° to N27.16100° /”/ “ E098.79370°, 2300-2530 m, 18 August 2005, Stop# DHK-2005- 096, D. Z. Dong collector”/ “ HOLOTYPE Agonotrechus fugongensis Deuve & Liang , sp. nov. designated 2016” [red label] . Paratypes (only 1): a female (in CAS) labeled: “CASENT 1006974”/ “ CHINA, Yunnan, Gaoligong Shan, Nujiang Prefecture, Nujiang State Nature Reserve , Qigi He , 9.9 airkm W of Gongshan,”/ “ N27.71542° / E98.56529°, 2000m, 9-14 July 2000, Stop#00-22A, D.H. Kavanaugh , C.E. Griswold, Liang H.-B., D. Ubick, & Dong D.-Z. collectors”/ “IMAGE” [pale green label]/ “ PARATYPE Agonotrechus fugongensis Deuve & Liang , sp. nov. designated 2016” [yellow label].

TYPE LOCALITY.— China, Yunnan, Fugong County, Shiyueliang Township , 0 to 2 km W of Shibali on Shibali Road, 2300-2530 m .

DERIVATION OF SPECIES NAME.— The species epithet, fugongensis , is derived from the name of the county (Xian) in which the holotype was collected, Fugong, and the Latin suffix, -ensis, denoting place.

DIAGNOSIS.— Adults of this species ( Fig. 7a ) can be distinguished from those of all other species in the region by the following combination of character states: size large (BL = 5.8 to 6.0 mm), fully-winged, dorsum dark piceous to reddish brown, shiny, pronotum and elytra slightly iridescent; eyes convex, moderately projected; clypeus with four setae; mentum and submentum fused, submentum with six setae; pronotum small but transverse, ratio PW/PL = 1.30, median basal area smooth, framed by two deep, oblique furrows, lateral explanation rather narrow, broadened only posteriorly, lateral margins with a short sinuation anterior to the sharp, rectangular or slightly acute basal angles; elytra with all discal striae evident and finely punctate, striae 1 to 4 moderately impressed, striae 5 to 8 more faintly impressed, parascutellar striole rather long, recurrent stria deeply impressed but abruptly terminated anteriorly, not connected with stria 5, intervals slightly convex, two discal seta (anterior and middle setae) present in stria 3, the anterior seta inserted within basal one-sixth of elytra, the middle seta inserted near elytral middle, preapical seta also present; median lobe of aedeagus of male ( Fig. 7b ) long and slender, endophallus with copulatory piece spoon-shaped.

DESCRIPTION.— Size large, BL = 5.8 to 6.0 mm. Color of dorsum piceous to reddish brown, shiny, pronotum and elytra slightly iridescent, appendages paler, palpi yellowish tan.

Head. Moderate in size, slightly elongate, eyes large, convex, moderately projected, their diameter more than two times length of tempora. Tempora short, only slightly convex and glabrous, joined to neck region at ca. 135° angle. Frons more or less flattened, with two pairs of supraorbital setae, frontal furrows distinct, impressed posterior to or beyond posterior supraorbital setae. Clypeus with four setae. Labrum with six setae, apical margin slightly concave. Mandibles slen- der; right mandible bidentate, the anterior tooth far forward and long, the basal tooth reduced, obtuse and blunt; left mandible with a very slender trifid process, formed from fusion of the retinaculum with premolar tooth. Palpi with apical palpomeres fusiform. Mentum and submentum fused. Mentum bifossulate, divided into three sectors, a median and two lateral parts, separated by two deep, longitudinal furrows; medial tooth simple, subtriangular with blunt apex, half as long as lateral lobes. Submentum with six setae subapically, gula broad. Genae with a single ventral seta on each side. Antennae of moderate length, with only four antennomeres extended beyond the pronotal base; antennonmeres 3 and 4 virtually the same length and each longer than antennomere 2.

Pronotum. Rather small, moderately narrow posteriorly, ratio PW/PL = 1.30, widest slightly anterior to middle, lateral margins with short sinuation just anterior to sharp, rectangular or slightly acute basal angles; pronotal disc convex, median longitudinal impression very fine and shallow, extended posteriorly to near basal margin, but not as close anteriorly to apical margin; basal foveae small vaguely delimited; median basal area smooth, delimited laterally by short but deep and oblique furrows; basal margin nearly straight, slightly sinuate. Lateral explanation moderately narrow and slightly reflexed, widened posteriorly but not flattened. Midlateral pair of setae inserted anterior to middle and basolateral pair inserted at hind angles.

Elytra. Moderately wide, elytral silhouette subovoid, humeri distinct but rounded, disc convex. All discal striae evident and finely punctate, striae 1 to 4 moderately impressed, striae 5 to 8 more faintly impressed, partially effaced, parascutellar striole rather long, recurrent stria deeply impressed but abruptly terminated anteriorly, not connected with discal stria 5, intervals slightly convex. Parascutellar setiferous pore present at base at common origin of discal striae 1 and 2. Two discal seta (anterior and middle setae) present in stria 3, the anterior seta inserted within basal one-sixth of elytra, the middle seta inserted near elytral middle. Preapical seta also present, inserted on interval 2 near stria 2, closer to sutural elytral margin than to apex. Umbilicate setal series with setae of humeral group equidistant for each other and those of median group both inserted posteri- or to middle of elytra.

Legs. Slender, moderately long. Protibiae furrowed, without anteroapical pubescence. Male protarsi with tarsomeres 1 and 2 dilated and apicomedially toothed.

Abdomen. Ventrites each with a pair of paramedial setae, ventrite VII of males with a single pair of paramedial apical setae, of females with two pairs.

Male aedeagus. Median lobe ( Fig. 7b ) long and slender, endophallus with a spoon-shaped sclerite.

COMMENTS.— Males of this species are most similar to those of A. wuyipeng in features of the aedeagus; but they are smaller, their pronota distinctly narrower, more slender, and with much narrower lateral margination, and the recurrent stria does not connect anteriorly with stria 5 as it does in A. wuyipeng members.

HABITAT DISTRIBUTION.— The holotype specimen of this species was found under a stone on moist substrate along a roadcut through an agricultural area formed in a large clearcut in what had been mixed broadleaf evergreen and conifer forest at an elevation somewhere between 2300 and 2530 m ( Fig. 36a ). The paratype specimen was collected under stones on the shaded bank of the Qiqi River just above the Forestry station at Qiqi at an elevation of 2000 m ( Fig. 35b ). Members of no other Agonotrechus or other trechine species have been found syntopic with those of A. fugongensis .

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION WITHIN THE GAOLIGONG SHAN.— Fig. 7c . We examined a total of 2 specimens (1 male and 1 female) from Fugong and Gongshan Counties, respectively (see Type material above for exact collection data) .

Specimens of this species were collected only in the northern half of the study area (Core Areas 2 and 3) and only on the eastern side of the mountain range. This distribution pattern may be an artifact of inadequate sampling on the western slope of the mountain range in the north, much of which is in Myanmar. The geographical range of this species overlaps that of A. wuyipeng , but members of the latter species appear to occupy slightly higher elevations in the same general areas.

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

Figures

FIGURE 7. Agonotrechus fugongensis sp. nov.; a. Dorsal habitus (CASENT1019979). b. Median lobe of aedeagus of male (CASENT1019979), left lateral aspect. c. Map of locality records (red circles) for A. fugongensis in the Gaoligong Shan region. Scale lines a, b = 0.5 mm, c = 100 km.

FIGURE 35. Photographs of habitats for trechine species in the Gaoligong Shan region. a. Gongshan County, Bingzhongluo Township, Xiao Shangla He at Shuangla Village, elevation 1550 m; habitat in which specimens of Perileptus imaicus Jeannel were collected. b. Gongshan County, Qigi He, 9.9 airkm W of Cikai, elevation 2000 m; habitat in which specimens of Agonotrechus fugongensis sp. nov. were collected. Photos by David H. Kavanaugh.

FIGURE 36. Photographs of habitats for trechine species in the Gaoligong Shan region. a. Fugong County, Shiyueliang Township, 1 km E of Shibali on Shibali Road, elevation 2400 m; habitat in which specimens of Agonotrechus fugongensis sp. nov. were collected. b. Gongshan County, Cikai Township, Qiqi Trail at No. 12 Bridge Camp, elevation 2770 m; habitat in which specimens of Agonotrechus wuyipeng Deuve 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.