Elocomosta lilizheni, Lin, Renchao, Jia, Fenglong & Fikacek, Martin, 2016

Lin, Renchao, Jia, Fenglong & Fikacek, Martin, 2016, A review of Elocomosta Hansen with a description of a new species with reduced eyes from China (Coleoptera, Hydrophilidae, Sphaeridiinae), ZooKeys 607, pp. 81-92 : 85-86

Taxon classification Animalia Coleoptera Hydrophilidae

Elocomosta lilizheni sp. n. Figs 4-7, 10, 12, 14, 17, 19-20, 23, 25, 27, 29-31, 33

Type material.

Holotype: male (SYSU): China, Guangxi, Jinxiu County, Yinshan Conservation Station, 24°10'01"N, 110°14'38"E, beech forest, mixed leaf litter, sifted, 1200 m, 11.vii.2014, Peng, Song, Yu & Yan leg. Paratypes (11 spec., SYSU, SHNU, NMPC): 7 spec.: same information as the holotype; 2 spec.: China, Guangxi, Jinxiu County, 7 km, 24°09'07"N, 110°12'29"E, beech forest, mixed leaf litter, humus, sifted, 1300 m, 16.vii.2014, Peng, Song, Yu & Yan leg.; 2 spec.: China, Guangxi, Jinxiu County, Laoshan Forest Farm, 24°07'02"N, 110°11'51"E, on dead wood with Polypores, caught, 950 m, 26.vii.2014, Peng, Song, Yu & Yan leg.

Diagnosis.

Length 2.3-2.7 mm, widely oval. Eyes extremely reduced in size, dorsally eyes divided by distance of ca. 20 × the dorsal width of one eye. Elytra explanate laterally. Mesoventral plate subpentagonal, with strong marginal bead. Profemora without hydrofuge dense pubescence, only with sparsely arranged setae. Parameres gradually narrowing towards apex, rounded at apex. Median lobe a little longer than parameres, gradually narrowing from base, then abruptly wide and swollen subapically.

Description.Habitus (Figs 4-6). Body widely oval in dorsal view, moderately convex in lateral view. Length 2.3-2.7 mm (holotype: 2.5 mm), width 1.5-1.9 mm (holotype: 1.8 mm). Coloration. Dorsum of head, pronotum and elytron black, with lateral margins of pronotum and elytron, and anterior margin of head reddish yellow (Figs 4, 6). Maxillary palpi and antennae yellow-brown. Venter black, tarsi and mouthparts reddish yellow. Head. Clypeus with sparse, moderately coarse punctures, interstices smooth; anterior and lateral marginal portions of clypeus with clear microsculpture. Frons with punctation slightly denser and coarser than on clypeus. Eyes extremely reduced in size, dorsally eyes divided by distance of ca. 20 × the dorsal width of one eye, ventral portion absent. Labrum partly exposed in front of clypeus. Surface of mentum without microsculpture. Thorax. Pronotum with punctation consisting of punctures similar to those on frons but more or less sparser; surface between punctures smooth, without microsculpture; posterolateral corners acute, slightly projecting posteriad. Elytra explanate laterally, interval punctation consisting of punctures only slightly coarser than on pronotum; epipleura very wide. Mesoventral plate subpentagonal, ca. 1.2 × as long as wide, with strong marginal bead. Metaventrite short, metaventral process ca. of the same width throughout. Metanepisternum without anterolateral tooth. Profemora without hydrofuge dense pubescence, only with sparsely arranged setae. Male genitalia. Parameres ca. 1.9 × as long as phallobase, rather wide subapically, gradually narrowing towards apex, rounded at apex. Phallobase wide, posteriorly bearing long nearly symmetrical manubrium. Median lobe a little longer than parameres, gradually narrowing from base, then abruptly wide and swollen subapically; gonopore situated in apical 0.25 of median lobe.

Differential diagnosis.

See Table 1.

Etymology.

We dedicate the species to Dr. Li-zhen Li, an entomologist at Shanghai Normal University, as thanks for the donation of specimens collected by him.

Biology.

All known specimens were collected from terrestrial habitats. Holotype and nine paratypes were collected from mixed leaf litter in beech forest, and two specimens from dead wood with polypores in logging field.

Distribution.

China (Guangxi Province).