Queinnectrechus (s. str.) gongshanicus 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 : 370-372

Queinnectrechus (s. str.) gongshanicus Deuve and Liang , sp. nov.

( Figs. 13 , 39a , 46–48 )

TYPE MATERIAL.— Holotype, a male, in IOZ, labeled: “CASENT 1024868”/ “ CHINA, Yunnan, Gongshan County, Bingzhongluo Township, SW slope of Kawakarpu Shan , on slope NE of Chukuai Lake, 3950 m,”/ “ N27.98206 / E098.48027°, 20 August 2006, Stop #DHK-2006-086 Y. Liu, P. Hu, D.Z. Dong, & J. Wang collectors”/ “ HOLOTYPE Queinnectrechus (s. str.) gongshanicus Deuve & Liang , sp. nov. designated 2016” [red label] . Paratypes (a total of 10): 2 females (in CAS, IOZ) labeled same as holotype except first label “CASENT 1024866” and “CASENT 1024867”, respectively ; 1 male and 1 female (in IOZ, MNHN) labeled: “CASENT 1025160” and “CASENT 1025161”, respectively/ “ CHINA, Yunnan, Gongshan County, Bingzhongluo Township, SW slope of Kawakarpu Shan , 0.75 km NW of Chukuai Lake,”/ “ N27.98631° / E098.47069°, 21 August 2006, Stop #DHK-2006-095 Y. Liu, P. Hu, & J. Wang collectors” ; 1 male and 3 females (in CAS, IOZ) labeled “CASENT 1025935” and “CASENT 1025936” to “CASENT 1025938”, respectively/ “ CHINA, Yunnan, Gongshan County, Bingzhongluo Township, SW slope of Kawakarpu Shan , 0.3 km SW of Chukuai Lake at campsite, “ N27.97686° / E098.44779° ”/ “ 3750 m, 19-22 August 2006, Stop #DHK-2006-095C D.H. Kavanaugh , J.A. Miller, D.Z. Dong, Y. Liu, P. Hu, & J. Wang collectors” ; 2 males (in CAS, MNHN) labeled “CASENT 1026203” and “CASENT 1026204”, respectively/ “ CHINA, Yunnan, Gongshan County, Bingzhongluo Township, SW slope of Kawakarpu Shan , 0.3 km NNE of Chukuai Lake, “ N27.98393° / E098.47491° ”/ “ 3745 m, 19 August 2006, Stop #DHK-2006-081 D.H. Kavanaugh , J.A. Miller, & D.Z. Dong collectors”. All paratypes also bear the following label: “ PARATYPE Queinnectrechus (s. str.) gongshanicus Deuve & Liang , sp. nov. designated 2016” [yellow label] .

TYPE LOCALITY.— China, Yunnan, Gongshan County, Bingzhongluo Township, SW slope of Kawakarpu Shan , on slope NE of Chukuai Lake, N27.98206 / E098.48027°, 3950 m .

DERIVATION OF SPECIES NAME.— The species epithet, gongshanicus , is derived from the name of the county (Xian) in which the holotype was collected, Gongshan, and the Latin adjectival suffix, -icus, meaning belonging to or pertaining to.

DIAGNOSIS.— Adults of this species ( Fig. 13a ) can be distinguished from those of all other species in the region by the following combination of character states: same features as members of Q. griswoldi except, size smaller (BL = 3.5 to 3.8 mm), body form short, with elytra, in particular, shorter and more oval, less elongate; digitiform projections of pronotal basal angles slightly more divergent laterally; elytral recurrent stria slightly deeper impressed, median lobe of male aedeagus ( Fig. 13b ) markedly different, with shaft thin and straighter, abruptly bent basally, apex short and rectangular, endophallus with a single apically acuminate internal sclerite.

DESCRIPTION.— Size smaller, BL = 3.5-3.8 mm. Body color dark, reddish-piceous, antennae and legs reddish tan, palpi and tarsi paler, yellowish tan.

Head. Moderate in size; eyes small and convex, their convexity greater than and their diameter about as long as tempora, the latter moderately convex and glabrous. Frons not flattened; frontal furrows deep, rounded, slightly attenuated posterior to the eyes. Clypeus with four setae. Labrum with six setae, anterior margin distinctly concave. Mentum and submentum fused. Mentum with medial tooth short, wide, bifid, less than one-half the length of the lateral lobes. Submentum with six setae anteriorly. Gula wide. Genae with a single seta ventrally on each side. Antennae slightly shorter, with only two antennomeres extended posteriorly beyond basal pronotal margin, antennomeres slightly broadened, antennomere 3 slightly longer than antennomeres 2 or 4.

Pronotum. Cordate (ratio PW/PL = 1.15), markedly narrowed posteriorly, greatest width near anterior one-third, lateral margins rounded anteriorly, then straightened posteriorly just anterior to basal angles, the latter prolonged as slender, slightly divergent digitiform processes. Disc markedly convex, smooth and glabrous, median longitudinal impression only superficially impressed; basal foveae distinct but small and round; median basal area smooth and markedly transverse, delimited anteriorly by a faint transverse impression; basal margin convex and rounded. Lateral border of pronotum rudimentary, extremely slender, distinctly defined only in anterior one-third to one-half, effaced in posterior one-half to two –thirds. Single midlateral setae on each side inserted at anterior one-third; single basolateral seta on each side, inserted on basal angle at base of digitform process.

Elytra. Short, ovoid, very slightly tear-shaped, narrower anteriorly than posteriorly, humeri effaced. Disc markedly convex and smooth. All discal striae effaced, except for a faintly impressed parascutellar striole and a short and shallow recurrent stria. Basal setiferous pore present. Three discal setae present, aligned along presumed track of stria 3. Preapicale seta absent, two or three apicoangular setules present. Umbilicate setal series with setae of humeral group equidistance from each other, with the first slightly more medially inserted than the others, setae of median group inserted distinctly posterior to middle.

Legs. Slightly short but slender. Protibiae with longitudinal furrow, glabrous or sparely pubescent apically on anterior surface. Male protarsomeres 1 and 2 dilated and apicomedially toothed.

Abdomen. Abdominal ventrites glabrous, except for a single paramedial seta on each side, and ventrite VII of males apically with one pair of paramedial setae, of females with two pairs.

Male aedeagus. Median lobe ( Fig. 13b ) with shaft with shaft thin and straight, abruptly bent basally, apex short and rectangular, endophallus with a single long, apically acuminate internal sclerite.

HABITAT DISTRIBUTION.— Members of this species have been found in a variety of microhabitats in the alpine zone on the southwest slope of Kawakarpu Shan, at elevations ranging 3745 to 3950 m. Specimens were collected from under stones in moist meadows, on tundra slopes and ridges with sparse to thick herbaceous vegetation, at the edges of small streams and seeps from talus slopes They were also collected in pitfall traps placed at the edges of Rhododendron thickets up to two meters tall. Members of this species have been found syntopic with specimens of Queinnectrechus (Gaoligongtrechus) balli sp. nov., Queinnectrechus (s. str.) griswoldi and Trechus gongshanensis sp. nov.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION WITHIN THE GAOLIGONG SHAN.— Fig. 13c . We examined a total of 11 specimens (4 males and 7 females), all from the southwest slope of Kawakarpu Shan in the northern part of the Gaoligong Shan, in Bingzhongluo Township, Gongshan County (see Type material above for exact collection data). These localities are all in Core Area 2 .

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

Figures

FIGURE 13. Queinnectrechus (s. str.) gongshanicus sp. nov.; a. Dorsal habitus (CASENT1024868). b. Median lobe of aedeagus of male (CASENT1024868), left lateral aspect. c. Map of locality records (red circles) for Q. gongshanicus in the Gaoligong Shan region. Scale lines a, b = 0.5 mm, c = 100 km.

FIGURE 39. Photographs of habitats for trechine species in the Gaoligong Shan region. a. Gongshan County, Bingzhongluo Township, SW slope of Kawakarpu Shan, 0.3 km NNE of Chukuai Lake, elevation 3745 m; habitat in which specimens of Queinnectrechus gongshanicus sp. nov., Q. balli sp. nov. and Trechus gongshanensis sp. nov. were collected. b. Gongshan County, Bingzhongluo Township, SW slope of Kawakarpu Shan on slope NE of Chukuai Lake, elevation 3950 m; habitat in which specimens of Queinnectrechus griswoldi sp. nov. and Trechus gongshanensis sp. nov. 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.