Selatosomus luhuaensis Qiu 2023, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Qiu, Lu
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Elateridae
Selatosomus
Selatosomus luhuaensis

description: Selatosomus luhuaensis Qiu, sp. nov.
(Figs. 1–5)
Chinese common name. ḞAEḔḄƤ
Type locality. Route to Rela Village, Luhua Town, Heishui County, Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China, 2430m, 32°04′49.70″N, 102°58′42.21″E.
Type material. Holotype: male (MYNU), “ ƀnjñẈNJDzḵƃḞAEä±ĖṻḤ‡Ề 2430m, 2022.VI.18, ƗẆḏ ” [route to Rela Village, Luhua Town, Heishui County, Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, 2430m, 18.VI.2022, Cheng-Bin Wang leg.]. Paratypes: 1 female (MYNU), same data as the holotype; 1 female (MYNU), same data as the holotype, but the collector is Hao Xu; 1 female (MYNU), “ ƀnjñẈ NJDzḵƃḞAEä±ƀħḤ‡Ề 2500m, 2022.VI.17, ứá ” [route to Simei Village, Luhua Town, Heishui County, Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, 2500m, 17.VI.2022, Hao Xu leg.].
Other material examined. 1 sex undeterminable fragmented specimen (MYNU), same data as the holotype, but “ 2022.VI.23, ṞR ” [23.VI.2022, Lu Qiu leg.].
Remarks on type material. All type material were collected from Luhua Town (Fig. 5A–B), the county seat of Heishui. Most specimens including the holotype were found near the Luhua Conference historical site, beside the road to Rela Village (32°04′49.70″N, 102°58′42.21″E). One paratype collected by Dr. Hao Xu was found beside the road to Simei Village (32°03′14.13″N, 103°0′33.98″E). The only male and one of the females were dead bodies found in spider net. Although these dead bodies were somewhat rickety, they are complete and still suitable to be designed as type specimens.
Diagnosis. This species can be readily distinguished from all other Chinese Selatosomus species by its striking color pattern of the body (red on antennae, legs, lateral portions of pronotum, hypomera, and prosternal process; metallic blue in elytra), which makes it an easily distinguished species in the genus.
Description. Male, holotype (Fig. 1A). Body stout, moderately convex, length 18.8 mm, width (elytral width) 6.0 mm, elytral length 11.8 mm, pronotal length 5.2 mm (measured along midline), pronotal width 6.0 mm (measured between posterior angles), antennal length 6.2 mm. Body bicolor. Head including antennae red, vertex between eyes black, ridges above antennae blackish. Prothorax red; pronotum black longitudinally in the middle from anterior margin to posterior base, slightly with metallic green or blue reflection in the black area; lateral carinae, anterior and posterior margins of pronotum black; prosternum slightly darkish in the middle; posterior angles slightly darkish both in dorsal and ventral sides. Legs reddish. Elytra and mesoscutellar shield metallic blue in dorsal view. Mesoventrite dimly reddish, metaventrite and abdomen dark brown, with metallic blue reflection. Pubescence generally yellowish white, sparse dorsally, much denser ventrally.
Head: frons declined from base to apex, vertex slightly depressed, with deep punctures, intervals between punctures about 1–2 times their diameter. Frontal region with lateral sides ridged above antennae, medially declined. Eyes small, globular. Antenna not exceeding posterior angle of pronotum by about the length of last two antennomeres. Antennomere I elongate oval; antennomere II the shortest, sub-globular; antennomere III the longest, digitaliform, about 1.25 times longer than wide, 1.15 times longer than antennomere II; antennomere IV elongate and triangular, slightly shorter than antennomere III; antennomeres V–X pentagonal-shaped, gradually and slightly diminished toward apex; antennomeres XI sub-oval, with apex blunt (Fig. 2B). Mandible truncated at apex (the apical portions were worn down). Apical palpomere of maxilla triangular. Labrum transverse, anterior margin convex, surface punctuated.
Thorax: pronotum wider than long when measured between the posterior angles and the longitudinal middle line; surface slightly convex (Fig. 2A). Anterior margin of pronotum slightly sinuate; lateral sides slightly convex, and slightly constricted before posterior angles. Posterior angles rough, slightly divergent, distinctly carinated in the middle, apices enlarged and slightly sharpened. Surface of pronotum with very few setae, anterior margin thoroughly pubescent, lateral margins and posterior margin sparsely pubescent. Surface of pronotum with dense, moderate in size and deep punctures, disc with interspaces between punctures about 2–4 times of their diameter; lateral portions with denser and larger punctures, the interspaces between punctures about 0.5–1 times of their diameter; interspaces between punctures smooth. Middle of pronotum with an impunctate line extending from base to apex, but interrupted at middle.
Hypomeron flat, densely punctate and pubescent, interspaces between punctures about 1–2 times their diameter; prosternal sutures nearly straight; prosternum smooth, medially with sparse punctures and pubescence, but these distinctly denser laterally; prosternal lobe with a transverse line posteriorly (Fig. 2D); prosternal process convex ventroapically, straight dorsally, but with an indentation near apical portion; in lateral view, surface carinated, apex narrowly protruded (Fig. 2C).
Mesoscutellar shield (Fig. 2A) roundly quadrate, with small punctures, interspaces between punctures about 2–3 times of their diameter.
Elytra 2.3 times as long as pronotum (measured from midline); widest at distal half, and subequal to the width of pronotum (measured from posterior angles). Surface smooth and shining, pubescence indistinct; striae not deep, punctures of the striae small, with strial punctures spaced about 1–2 times their diameter; interstriae slightly elevated, smooth, punctures between striae very small, shallow and sparse.
Legs slender, tarsi simple, tarsomeres 1 to 4 becoming gradually shorter, tarsomere 5 the longest, tarsomere 4 the shortest. Metacoxal plate shape as Fig. 2E, lateral ca. 1/2 distinctly narrowed, surface with moderate punctures.
Abdomen: finely punctured and pubescent. Tergite VIII subpentagonal, basal margin straight, basal sides truncated, narrower towards apex from basal third, apex rounded (Fig. 3B); tergite IX short, hind margin sinuate, median concave, anterior angles protruded, apex rounded, pubescent, with a large and rectangular emargination between the anterior angles; tergite X rounded, with dense, small pubescence, apical margin uneven, with four small processes (Fig. 3C). Sternite VIII with sides well slcerotized, pubescent (Fig. 3B); sternite IX oval, hind margin rounded, basal portion transparent medially, distal portion pubescent, sides narrowed, apex obtusely angled (Fig. 3A).
Genitalia: median lobe longer than parameres, robust basally, distal portion distinctly narrowed, apex bluntly rounded; paramere robust, the outer margin slightly convex, distal portion constricted before hook; hook sharp, pointed laterally, apex of paramere round (Fig. 3D).
Female paratypes. Similar to males in the coloration, but compared with the male holotype, body larger, more globous and convex, length 18.0– 21.3 mm (Fig. 1B–C). Antenna shorter (5.71 mm in one specimen), only reaching the distal end of the carination of posterior angle, antennomeres less pentagonal-shaped from antennomeres V–X (Fig. 2G). Mandible bidentate. Pronotum with punctures on the pronotum disc slightly denser; lateral margins after anterior angles of pronotum distinctly wider, and more constricted before posterior angles; posterior angles rounded at apex (Fig. 2F). Prosternal process distinctly larger than that of male (Fig. 2H). Tergite VIII slightly wider than long, basal margin slightly concave, lateral margin subparallel basally, sides of lateral margin from basal forth gradually tapered toward apex, apex rounded (Fig. 4D); sternite VIII wider than long, distinctly pubescent, apical portion in the middle thickened, spiculum ventrale rather short, almost as long as sternite VIII length (Fig. 4C). Ovipositor very short; coxite distinctly pubescent, without stylus (Fig. A–B); bursa copulatrix with long dense spines (Fig. 4E).
Distribution. China (Sichuan Province). Natural history. Living specimens were found crawling on the ground or woodpile during night (Fig. 5A–B). Etymology. Named after the type locality Luhua Town (Fig. 5A), which is the county seat of Heishui. The species epithet is also devoted of the Luhua Conference held in 1935 during the Red Army's long march in Heishui County.
description: Published as part of Qiu, Lu, 2023, Selatosomus luhuaensis sp. nov. (Coleoptera: Elateridae: Dendrometrinae) from Sichuan Province, China, with an annotated checklist of the Chinese species of Selatosomus, pp. 173-186 in Zootaxa 5228 (2) on pages 174-178, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5228.2.5, http://zenodo.org/record/7532524