Pterostichus (Morphohaptoderus) schuelkei Sciaky & Wrase, 1997

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 : 44-46

Taxon classification Animalia Coleoptera Carabidae

Pterostichus (Morphohaptoderus) schuelkei Sciaky & Wrase, 1997 new subgeneric assignment Figures 89, 126, 137

Pterostichus (Morphohaptoderus) schuelkei Sciaky and Wrase 1999: 1102 (Original: Pterostichus (Circinatus) ; holotype deposited in CDW); Bousquet 2003: 488; Lorenz 2005: 280 ( Pterostichus ( Circinatus )); Allegro and Sciaky 2010: 14 ( Pterostichus ( Circinatus )).

Type material examined.

Holotype of Pterostichus schuelkei Sciaky & Wrase (CDW), female, body length = 10.8 mm, board mounted, "CHINA (Shaanxi) / Qin Ling Shan / 108.47 E / 33.51 N / Mt. W pass / autoroute km 70,47km. S Xian 2350-2500 m / 7.-19.VII.1996 / Kleinfeld & Schutze"; "COLL.WRASE / BERLIN"; "HOLOTYPUS / Pterostichus / ( Circinatus )/ schuelkei sp. n. / Sciaky & Wrase des. 1997" [red label].

Non-type material examined

(total 20 specimens). 12 females (IZAS), "CHINA, Shaanxi Prov., Ningshan, Huoditang, pitfall trap, 33.43368 N 108.44747 E, 1538 m, 2007.08.20, Shi H.L. Yang G.Y. coll."; 1 male, 4 females (IZAS), "China, Shaanxi Prov., Zhouzhi, Houzhenzi, Laoxiancheng, pitfall trap, 33.79211 N 107.74421 E, 1860 m, 2007.08.14, Shi Hongliang collector"; 1 female (IZAS), "Shaanxi, Ningshan county, Huoditang, 1580 m, 1998.VII.27, Chen Jun leg."; 1 male (IZAS), "Shaanxi, Foping county, Liangfengya, 2150-1750 m, 1999.VI.28, Yao Jian leg."; 1 male (IZAS), "Shaanxi, Zhouzhi county, Houzhenzi W. 3km, 2008.V.11, Huang Hao leg.".

Diagnosis.

Third antennomere without secondary setae; submentum with one seta on each side; pronotal hind angle completely rounded; posterior seta close to hind angle; basal foveal area finely punctate, outer groove short and superficial; third interval of elytra with two setigerous pores, all adjacent to second stria; metacoxa with three setae; fifth tarsomeres setose beneath; males with terminal and penultimate sterna unmodified. Median lobe of aedeagus carinate ventrally; apical lamella simple, pointing apical-ventrally; apical orifice opened dorsally; right paramere short, length approx 1.6 times greatest width, apical portion completely rounded.

Distribution.

This species was recorded from several localities (within 100 km of each other) in Qinling mountain (Shaanxi province).

Discussion.

Pterostichus schuelkei was originally placed in the subgenus Circinatus because of its typical Circinatus -like pronotum, namely, the almost rounded hind angle. However, after a careful morphological study, we found that Pterostichus schuelkei differs from the other members of Circinatus in some important characters, which leads us to move it from Circinatus to Morphohaptoderus . In the present study, we emphasize the following two characters: (1) number of setae on the metacoxa, and (2) shape of the right paramere of the aedeagus.

Pterostichus schuelkei has three setae on the metacoxa (Fig. 137), but in the true Circinatus species, only two are present. In most Pterostichus species, the metacoxa has only two setae, one close to the outer-posterior angle and the other seta close to anterior margin of the metacoxa (1 and 2 in Fig. 137). In some Pterostichus subgenera, one additional seta is present near the inner angle of the metacoxa (3 in Fig. 137), which is typically finer and shorter than the other two setae. The number of setae on the metacoxa is important in the subgeneric classification of the genus Pterostichus . In the Chinese fauna of Pterostichus (35 total subgenera recorded according to our unpublished results), only three subgenera have three setae present on the metacoxa: Cryobius , Morphohaptoderus , and Tschitscherinea . These three subgenera are closely allied to one another, and all have similar body forms and pronotal basal foveae.

The basal plan of the right paramere in the subgenus Circinatus is straight and fusiform such as in Pterostichus baenningeri (Fig. 40C), which is modified to be stouter or triangular in some species such as Pterostichus camelus sp. n. (Fig. 28C). The ratio of the right paramere length to its greatest width is between 2.5 and 4.0 in Circinatus . However, in Pterostichus schuelkei , the right paramere is much shorter (length/width = 1.6) and the apical portion is approximately round (Fig. 126D), which is consistent with the typical form in the subgenus Morphohaptoderus . In most species of Morphohaptoderus , the right parameres are almost identical, with the apical portions very short and approximately round; there are only two exceptions in the described species ( Pterostichus dundai and Pterostichus muellermotzfeldi ). In Pterostichus dundai , the apical portion of the right paramere is strongly elongated and bent, and in Pterostichus muellermotzfeldi , the right paramere is approximately fusiform. Moreover, this type of short and round right paramere is present only in the subgenus Morphohaptoderus .

Pterostichus schuelkei is surely the closest species to Pterostichus wenxianensis , as indicated by Allegro & Sciaky (2010). When sorting for Morphohaptoderus specimens in the collection of the IZAS, we found that two other Morphohaptoderus species could also be related to Pterostichus schuelkei and Pterostichus wenxianensis , which are Pterostichus janatai Sciaky & Wrase and Pterostichus hubeicus Facchini & Sciaky. All four of these species are found in or close to the Qinling Mountain range in central China. They share the following characters and may form a species group in subgenus Morphohaptoderus : (1) submentum with only one seta on each side; (2) third interval with two (occasionally three) setigerous pores, all adjacent to the second stria; (3) median lobe of the aedeagus carinate ventrally; and (4) apical lamella of the aedeagus simple, pointing apical-ventrally, and not hooked or twisted. The combination of these four characters is unique to the subgenus Morphohaptoderus and may support a relationship among these four species, although Pterostichus janatai and Pterostichus hubeicus differ from the other two because of a distinct pronotal hind angle.

Based on all considerations, Pterostichus schuelkei is assigned to the subgenus Morphohaptoderus in the present paper.