Tenomerga helii Wang & Hájek 2018, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Wang, Cheng-Bin
name: Hájek, Jiří
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Cupedidae
Tenomerga
Tenomerga helii

description: Tenomerga helii sp. nov.
(Figs 1C; 2B; 5 C–D; 7B, D; 8; 9; 10C)
Type material. Holotype: ♂ (NMPC), [CHINA,] 四川省攀枝花市西区 [Sichuan Province: Panzhihua City, West District] / 格里坪镇新庄村 [Geliping Township, Xinzhuang Village] / 220kV 变电站旁 [beside 220kV transformer substation] / V.21.2015 / N26.60203, / E101.65586 / 海拔 [altitude] 1260 m / 拣灯 [picked around light] / Leg. Li He // HOLOTYPUS ♂ / Tenomerga helii / sp. n. / C.-B. Wang det. 2017.
Description. Male holotype. Habitus (Fig. 1C). Body oblong and flat. Colour pattern: head, pronotum and scutellar shield (Fig. 2B) with scales and setae mostly yellowish brown, but somewhat paler before P1, around bases of P1, between P1 and P2, in posterior parts of P3. Scape and pedicel with scales yellowish brown, but somewhat darker on pedicel; antennomere III–XI with setae brown. Elytra with scales distinctly alternatelybicolored, yellowish and dark brown: interval I dark in four sections (in basal 1/17 (poorly-defined), from basal 1/9 to 1/3, from midlength to apical 1/4, and from apical 1/8 to subapex); interval II dark in two sections (from midlength to apical 1/4 and from apical 1/7 to subapex); interval III dark in four sections (from basal 3/8 to midlength, from apical 2/5 to 1/4, from apical 2/9 to 1/6, and in junction of intervals III+V); interval IV dark in one short section (from midlength to apical 4/9) or totally yellowish brown; interval V dark in two sections (from midlength to apical 3/7 and from apical 1/4 to 1/5); interval VI dark in one short section (from apical 1/16 to apex); interval VII dark in three sections (from basal 1/5 to midlength, from apical 1/4 to 2/9, and from apical 1/12 to junction of intervals III+V); interval VIII dark in two sections (from basal 1/5 to apical 2/5 and from apical 1/6 to subapex); interval IX dark in one section (in basal 1/4); margin dark in four sections (from basal 1/18 to 1/3, from apical 3/8 to 1/3, from apical 1/5 to 1/8, and in apical 1/20). Legs with setae yellowish brown to brown, and some yellowish brown scales on profemora and protibiae.
Head (Fig. 2B) widest at eyes; ratio width/length = 1.8. Protuberances: P1 large and low, tilting anterolaterally, weakly concave dorsally, and obtuse at tip; P2 smaller but higher than P1, slightly tilting anterolaterally, and acutely conical at tip; P3 low and wide; median furrow narrow but distinctly deep. Tempora short, ratio temporal/ head length = 0.3. Eyes large, protruding, ratio eye length/width = 1.7, ratio eye/head length = 0.5. Antennae long and slender, ratio antenna/body length = 0.8.
Pronotum (Fig. 2B) subrectangular, widest at midlength between anterior and posterior angles; ratio width/ length = 1.5. Anterior angles subacute, weakly pointed anterolaterally. Posterior angles indistinct. Lateral margin between anterior angle and posterior angle inconspicuously sinuate. Median longitudinal ridge narrow, moderately defined, with fine median furrow.
Elytra (Fig. 7B) elongate and more or less parallel-sided; ratio length/width = 3.2. Nine longitudinal rows present, consisting of transversely oblong window-like punctures (Fig. 7D). Interval elevations: interval I distinctly raised; interval III distinctly raised in basal 1/7; interval V distinctly raised from subbase to junction with interval III; interval VII moderately raised from humerus to junction with interval III+V; interval VIII moderately raised in basal 1/5.
Abdomen. Tergite VIII (Fig. 8A, C) scutiform, closely covered with minute spines. Sternite VIII (Fig. 8B) subtriangular, rounded at apex, sparsely covered with setae in apical part. Tergite IX (Fig. 8D) widest at basal 4/9; median section asymmetrical, of shape of digit “7”, distinctly turning to right at apex. Sternite IX (Fig. 8 E–F) widest at basal 1/6, and acuminated in apical part. Bifurcate process (Fig. 8 G–H) with strut occupying 1/5 of its total length; furcal arms widest at about basal 1/5, weakly recurved ventrally in apical part in lateral view; dorsolateral angles subroundly protruded in lateral view.
Aedeagus (Fig. 9 A–C) equal to 1/6 body length, widest at basal 2/7, sinuate and gradually tapering apically; ratio length/width = 3.3. Dorsal plate (Fig. 5D) slightly shorter than median lobe, bilobate in apical part, each relatively slender and inclined medially at apex. Paramere slender, weakly curved medially in apical part. Ventromarginal spine long, arising from basal 1/4 of paramere and reaching base of apical hook. Apical hook (Fig. 9D) almost evenly curved. Median lobe (Fig. 5C) short, not reaching apical hook; apex narrow and narrowly notched at middle; lateral margins widened mesoventrally, forming longitudinal flaps splayed at apices. Basal opening large, cordiform.
Measurements. Body length 12.3 mm. Length (mm) of particular body parts: head (1.2), antenna (9.5), eye (0.6), tempus (0.3), pronotum (1.5), elytron (9.5); width (mm): head (2.1), eye (0.4), pronotum (2.2), elytra (3.0). Proportion of antennomeres from base to tip in mm (length × width): 0.6 × 0.4, 0.2 × 0.3, 0.7 × 0.4, 0.7 × 0.4, 0.8 × 0.3, 0.9 × 0.3, 1.0 × 0.3, 1.0 × 0.3, 1.0 × 0.3, 1.0 × 0.2, 1.4 × 0.2. Ratio elytral/pronotal length = 6.5; ratio elytral/ pronotal width = 1.4; ratio body length/elytral width = 4.1.
Female. Unknown.
Differential diagnosis. The new species is similar to the widespread Palaearctic-Oriental Tenomerga anguliscutis (Fig. 1 D–E) in general appearance, but these species have distinctly different alternately-bicolored patterns on the elytra. Beside this, the new species is distinguishable from the latter by the combination of the following characters: in T. helii sp. nov., pronotal anterior angles (Fig. 2B) are subacute, weakly pointed anterolaterally; pronotal lateral carina is inconspicuously sinuate in dorsal view; bifurcate process (Fig. 8H) has furcal arms widest at about basal 1/5, and they are weakly recurved ventrally in apical part; aedeagal dorsal plate (Fig. 5D) is bilobate in apical part, each more slender and inclined medially at the apex; apical hook (Fig. 9D) is almost evenly curved; median lobe (Fig. 5C) has the apex narrowly notched at the middle. In T. anguliscutis, pronotal anterior angles (Fig. 2C) are subrounded, subquadrate, or obtusely to subacutely angulate, only scarcely pointed anterolaterally; pronotal lateral carina is weakly sinuate in dorsal view; bifurcate process has furcal arms widest at about basal 1/4, slightly recurved ventrally in apical part; aedeagal dorsal plate is bilobate in apical part, each much wider and weakly inclined medially at the apex; apical hook is apically bifid; median lobe has the apex more widely notched at the middle (see also Neboiss 1984: figs 16–18).
Tenomerga helii sp. nov. is unique in the genus Tenomerga for the median section of tergite IX, which is asymmetric, distinctly turning to right at the apex. However, as only one specimen of the new species exists, we cannot exclude that it is an artefact; in fact we have checked a large number of T. anguliscutis, and the deformation of the median section of tergite IX occur in some specimens. Therefore, the evaluation of this character remains pending until collection of additional specimens of T. helii sp. nov.
Collecting circumstance. The habitat of the new species is a hot, dry valley around the transformer substation (Fig. 10A) of Xinzhuang Village as shown in Fig. 10B. The holotype was collected around light at night (Fig. 10C).
Etymology. The new species is dedicated to its collector, Mr. Li He (Chengdu, Sichuan, China), an enthusiastic amateur entomologist. The name is a noun in the genitive case.
Distribution. Known so far only from the type locality in Sichuan Province, western China.
description: Published as part of Wang, Cheng-Bin & Hájek, Jiří, 2018, Two new species of Tenomerga Neboiss from eastern Asia (Coleoptera: Cupedidae), pp. 531-546 in Zootaxa 4526 (4) on pages 538-545, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4526.4.6, http://zenodo.org/record/2611834