Chinecallicerus formidabilis Assing 2019, nov.sp.
Creators: name: Assing, Volker
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Staphylinidae
Chinecallicerus
Chinecallicerus formidabilis

description: Chinecallicerus formidabilis nov.sp. (Figs 1-7, Map 1)
T
y p e m a t e r i a l: Holotype ♀:̎ China, NSichuan,Xiao-ZhaiziNat. Nature Reserve, 7 km W of Qingpianxiang, Xiaozhaizi, 32°1'25''N 103°56'21''E, 27.VI.-1.VII.2017, 1560- 1700 m, lgt. Ondřej Konvička / Holotypus ♀ Chinecallicerus formidabilis sp. n., det. V. Assing 2018̎ (SCS).
E t y m o l o g y: The specific epithet (Latin, adjective) alludes to the formidable size and appearance of this species.
D e s c r i p t i o n: Largest species of the genus; body length 8.2 mm; length of forebody 3.5 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 1. Coloration: body blackish; legs brown with darkyellowish tarsi; antennae black; maxillary palpi blackish with the apical palpomere yellow.
Head (Fig. 4) slender, weakly oblong, and of subtrapezoid shape, broadest across eyes; lateral margins behind eyes converging posteriad and nearly straight; punctation very dense, partly slightly granulose, along middle of dorsal surface with a glossy, nearly impunctate band with shallow microreticulation (Fig. 2). Eyes strongly convex, approximately 0.7 times as long as distance from posterior margin of eye to posterior constriction of head in dorsal view. Antenna (Fig. 3) very long (length 3.2 mm) and moderately massive; antennomeres IV weakly oblong, V longer than IV and approximately 1.5 times as long as broad, VI-X each longer than V and of similar shape, and XI elongate, approximately as long as the combined length of IX and X. Maxillary palpomere III rather slender, not distinctly modified.
Pronotum (Fig. 4) 1.04 times as broad as long and 1.35 times as broad as head; punctation extremely dense and non-granulose; surface only with subdued shine.
Elytra (Fig. 4) 0.94 times as long as pronotum; punctation extremely dense, shallow, but defined; surface nearly matt. Hind wings fully developed. Legs very long and slender; length of metatibia 1.5 mm.
Abdomen (Fig. 5) narrower than elytra; tergites III-V with moderately deep and nearly impunctate anterior impressions, punctation of remainder of tergal surfaces rather coarse, dense on anterior tergites (Fig. 6), decreasing in density towards apex of abdomen, very
sparse on tergite VII; interstices with very shallow and fine transverse microstriae visible only at high magnification (100 x); posterior margin of tergite VII with palisade fringe.
♂: unknown.
♀: posterior margin of tergite VIII convex; sternite VIII weakly concave in the middle; spermatheca large (maximal extension 0.44 mm) and strongly sclerotized, shaped as in Fig. 7.
C o m p a r a t i v e n o t e s: Based on external characters (conspicuously large size; habitus; head shape; extremely dense punctation of the forebody; very dense punctation of the anterior tergites of the abdomen), this species is undoubtedly most closely allied to C. granulosissimus ASSING, 2018 from Qinghai. It is distinguished from this species by slightly larger size, darker coloration of the elytra, legs, and antennae (C. granulosissimus: elytra pitchy-reddish; legs reddish-brown; at least antennomere I brown), non-granulose punctation of the pronotum, defined punctation of the elytra (C. granulosissimus: elytra punctation ill-defined and confluent), distinctly less dense punctation of the abdomen, practically impunctate anterior impressions of tergites III-V (punctate in C. granulosissimus), even longer legs (C. granulosissimus: length of metatibia 1.35 mm), and by a larger spermatheca of different shape (C. granulosissimus: maximal extension 0.32 mm). For illustrations of C. granulosissimus see ASSING (2018).
D i s t r i b u t i o n a n d n a t u r a l h i s t o r y: Thetypelocalityissituated in North Sichuan (Map 1) at an altitude of 1560-1700 m. Additional data are not available.
description: Published as part of Assing, Volker, 2019, Five new species oI Chinecallicerus Irom China (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Aleocharinae, Geostibini), pp. 285-302 in Linzer biologische Beiträge 51 (1) on pages 289-290, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3762515