Ipelates schuelkei Růžička & Pütz 2009, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Růžička, Jan
name: Pütz, Andreas
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2009
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Agyrtidae
Ipelates
Ipelates schuelkei

description: Ipelates schuelkei sp. nov.   
(Figs. 4, 15)  
 Type locality. China, Yunnan province, Gaoligong Shan mts, pass 21 km NW Liuku.   
 Type material. HOLOTYPE: ♀, ‘ CHINA: Yunnan [province] (CH 07-26), Nujiang / Lisu Aut.[onomous] Pref.[ecture], Gaoligong Shan [mts], pass 21 / km NW Liuku, 3150 m, 25°58′22″N, / 98°41′00″E, bamboo with shrubs, litter / sifted, 9.VI.2007, M. Schülke [leg.] [p]’ (APEG, will be deposited in ZMHB). PARATYPE: 1 ♀, same data as holotype (JRPC).   
 Diagnostic description. Measurements of the female holotype: TBL 3.7 mm, PMW/PML 1.93, PMW/PBW 1.01, EL/EW 1.03, EW/PMW 1.27.   
Body small in size, 3.7 mm and 4.1 mm long. Dorsum light brown; antennae, mouthparts and legs uniformly light brown (Fig. 4). Dorsal surface very shiny, without any traces of microsculpture on head and pronotum. Head with regular and dense, fine punctation; vertex without impression; clypeal suture distinct, upraised, v-like; clypeus straight, not excavated.  
Mandible without inner tooth. Antenna relatively short and stout, proportions of antennal segments as in Fig. 4, antennomere 3 long, antennomeres 8–10 with dense sensillae in an apical groove.  
Pronotum widest shortly before base, basal margin completely and distal margin medially unbordered, lateral margins smooth, without serration, finely and completely bordered; anterior corners protruding and rounded, posterior corners rectangular, prolonged into short process; disc of pronotum distinctly vaulted, sides flattened; with irregular punctation laterally, punctures of larger diameter than those on head, disc with only a few scattered punctures (Fig. 4). Propleura without punctation.  
Elytra very convex and round, with nine rows of punctures arranged in longitudinal striae, stria 3 with ca. 41 punctures; punctures in rows distinctly larger than pronotal punctures, punctures in row 9 two times larger and more sparsely arranged than those in inner rows. Interstriae convex, impunctate, with feeble transverse microsculpture, 4–5 times as wide as punctures in the rows; epipleural keel (external interval sensu SCHAWALLER (2005)) very wide, laterally bent upwards (Fig. 4), lateral margin of elytra distinctly and completely serrate. Epipleura ventrally with distinct and scattered deep punctures on its basal part, diameter of punctures comparable to those of the elytral rows. Hind wings fully reduced.  
Metasternum with sparse and superficial punctures, abdominal sternites shining, without punctures. Ventrites III to VI on inflexed lateral portions with dense array of sharp teeth.  
Male. Unknown.  
Female. Posterior margin of ventrite VIII with narrow emargination, spiculum ventrale very wide, anterolaterally with projections (Fig. 15). Ovipositor with narrow valvifer without setae, very elongate coxite with one basal and several apical setae (only two apical setae larger), and sparsely setose digitiform stylus.  
 Differential diagnosis. Ipelates Reitter, 1885 is a small genus with 12 valid species, which are quite heterogeneous in size and external morphology (NEWTON 1997, SCHAWALLER 1983, 2005). Currently, there is no available hypothesis about the phylogeny within this genus. Although the new species is known only from two females, we decided to formally describe and name it because it can be well characterized by its external morphology.   
 By its small size, Ipelates schuelkei sp. nov. resembles I. indicus (Hlisnikovský, 1963) and I. sikkimensis (Portevin, 1905), which are also reported from this region (Myanmar and China: Sichuan province for I. indicus (SCHAWALLER 1983, 1999); Thailand and China: Yunnan province for I. sikkimensis, see above for references). It clearly differs by its short antennae, distinctly vaulted disc and flattened lateral areas of the pronotum, rectangular posterior corners of the pronotum and very convex elytra with very wide epipleural keel (Fig. 4). In I. indicus and I. sikkimensis, the antennae are longer, pronotum evenly convex with posterior corners rounded, and elytra regularly convex with narrow epipleural keel (SCHAWALLER 2005: 116, Figs. 7, 11).   
 Ipelates schuelkei sp. nov. shares most character states with I. schmidti Schawaller, 2005 from central Nepal and I. jumlanus Schawaller, 2005 from western Nepal: the pronotum is widest shortly before base, with posterior corners rectangular and disc with only a few scattered punctures and smooth surface, and the lateral margin of the elytra is completely serrate. However, I. schmidti has very fine punctures laterally on pronotum and only a narrow epipleural keel (SCHAWALLER 2005: 116, Fig. 10) and I. jumlanus is distinctly larger (body length 5.5–6.0 mm), with elytral interstriae glabrous without microsculpture (SCHAWALLER 2005: 116, Fig. 8).   
 Etymology. Patronymic, named in honour of Michael Schülke (Berlin, Germany), specialist in Staphylinidae and collector of the type series.   
 Bionomics. Both specimens were sifted from bamboo leaf litter and the upper humus layer in a habitat covered with dense bamboo vegetation and single shrubs on a slope below the pass.   
 Distribution. Ipelates schuelkei sp. nov. is known so far only from the type locality in China: Yunnan province, close to the border with Myanmar (Fig. 27).
description: Published as part of Růžička, Jan & Pütz, Andreas, 2009, New species and new records of Agyrtidae (Coleoptera) from China, India, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, pp. 631-650 in Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 49 (2) on pages 633-634, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5321906