Morphostenophanes chongli Zhou, new species
Creators: name: Zhou, De-Yao
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Tenebrionidae
Morphostenophanes
Morphostenophanes chongli

description: Morphostenophanes chongli Zhou, new species ẊṖẎȐAEƤ
(Figs. 14 A–D; 16N, R; 17M, R; 18I; 19M–O, Y; 20J, U)
Type materials. CHINA: Yunnan: ♂ (Holotype, SNUC), Pu’er City, Zhengyuan County, Heping Country, 23°56’13.73”N, 101°29’4.98”E, 2299m, 2011.ix. 26, Guo-Lin Li. Paratypes (2 ♂♂, 4♀♀): CHINA: Yunnan: 1♀ (SNUC), 1 ♂, 1♀ (MHBU), 1 ♂, 1♀ (CZDY, two samples each including muscle tissue and eggs were preserved in 99.7% ethanol at –18 °C), Pu’er City, Zhengyuan County, Heping Country, 23°56’13.73”N, 101°29’4.98”E, 2299 m, 2011.ix. 26, Guo-Lin Li; 1♀ (CBWX), Pu’er City, Mengda Town, Baiyanzi, 1700 m, 2019.viii.29, Y.-H. Li.
Diagnosis. Medium-sized, coppery colored, elongate and strongly convex species. Head and pronotum with extremely coarse punctation on the head and pronotum. Pronotal disc with a pair of deep impressions in middle. Elytra ovate, short strial punctures irregularly scattered and interconnected, forming a network, intervals uneven in sizes and shapes, some strongly swelling, forming tubercles.
Description. Male (Fig. 14A, C). Color coppery, hypomeron and prosternum dark green, antennae, mouthparts and tarsi dark brown, claws reddish brown. Body elongate, length 18.9–19.9 mm, width 6.7 mm, strongly convex, noticeably constricted between pronotum and elytra.
Head (Fig. 16N, R) transverse, subquadrate, coarsely microsculptured, scattered with large and deep punctures; outer margin strongly notched between genae and clypeus; clypeus transversely hexagonal, gently bent downwards in front, with anterior margin nearly straight, weakly emarginate in middle, clypeal transverse impression marked; frontoclypeal suture deeply grooved, becoming shallower anterolaterally, widely U-shaped; genae strongly raised, depressed before eyes, strongly and roundly produced anterolaterally; frons broad, gradually sloping forwards, vertexal lateral impressions shallow and broad, vertexal median impression marked, becoming deeper posteriorly; eyes transversely reniform, strongly convex laterally; inner ocular sulci deeply grooved along inner margins, becoming broader posteriorly; tempora convex, coarsely punctate. OI = 52.3–53.4. Antennae (Fig. 18I) slender, reaching basal 2/7 of elytra, with antennomeres weakly thickened to apices; relative lengths of antennomeres: 0.58: 0.49: 1.05: 1.02: 1.12: 1.11: 1.12: 1.00: 1.02: 1.00: 1.14. Mentum (Fig. 16R) quadrate, lateral margins straight or weakly rounded; medial surface sparsely and coarsely punctate, with several large pores with long setae; gradually rising anteriorly, depressed along both sides.
Pronotum (Fig. 17M) barrel-shaped, PW/PL = 1.05–1.08, finely microsculptured, widest in middle, anteri- or margin emarginate, projecting in middle, with thin marginal border, absent on middle; lateral margins weakly rounded, lateral marginal borders thin, visible in dorsal view slightly exceeding anterior half; posterior margin weakly rounded, slightly emarginate, posterior marginal border distinct; anterior angles rounded; posterior angles obtuse; disc moderately convex, with scattered large and deep punctures, with a pair of rounded impressions in middle, furrowed behind each impression. Scutellum widely triangular, glossy, sparsely and finely punctate.
Elytra ovate, widest near basal 3/5, EL/EW = 1.89; moderately convex, highest near middle; short strial punctures irregularly scattered and interconnected, forming a network, intervals uneven in size and shape, some strongly swelling, forming tubercles.
Prosternum (Fig. 17R) rugulose, finely and sparsely punctate; prosternal process weakly declivous, apex truncate; hypomeron rugulose, finely microsculptured, very sparsely and finely punctate. Metasternum finely wrinkled. Abdomen (Fig. 19Y) depressed, surface weakly rough, densely and finely punctate, sternite III more or less convex between metacoxae; sternite IV broadly depressed in apical middle, with the central part convex.
Legs slender. Protibiae (Fig. 19M) nearly straight, curved in apical fourth, thickening terminally, apical 3/5 of inner margins emarginate and pubescent; mesotibiae (Fig. 19N) curved in apical fourth, apical 3/5 of inner margins pubescent; metatibiae (Fig. 19O) nearly straight, apical 3/5 of inner margins emarginate, weakly pubescent.
Aedeagus (Fig. 20J) elongate, weakly curved in lateral view; parameres slender, 0.27 as long as total length, flattened terminally, with broadly widened and flabellate apex. Apical lobes of sternite VIII (Fig. 20K) hooked.
Female (Fig. 14B, D). Stouter than male, length 19.1–21.2 mm; OI = 56.5, PW/PL = 1.12; elytra stouter, EL/ EW = 1.59–1.69; abdomen straight in lateral view; without impressions on sternites. Ovipositor shortened, abruptly narrowing terminally from apical third.
Comparative notes. Morphostenophanes chongli resembles M. tuberculatus. Both species have elytra scattered with unevenly sized tubercles. However, M. chongli has intermittent distribution of elytral tubercles (continuous in the latter), with dark striae around each tubercle (without in the latter). Additionally, M. chongli can be distinguished from the latter by its coarsely punctate head and pronotum (fine in the latter), larger body size, and less widened paramere apex.
Comments. Similarly oblong elytra, impressions on head and abdomen, weak pubescence along inner margins of metatibiae and shortened ovipositor of Morphostenophanes chongli show its possible relation with aenescens - group, but none of the species in the aenescens -group have elytra sculpture similar to that of M. chongli. A future molecular study is required to verify the exact status of M. chongli within the genus.
Distribution. (Map 1) CHINA: Yunnan.
Etymology. The new species is named from ‘Chongli’, a god of fire in Chinese mythology
description: Published as part of Zhou, De-Yao, 2020, A revision of the genus Morphostenophanes Pic, 1925 (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae, Stenochiinae, Cnodalonini), pp. 1-81 in Zootaxa 4769 (1) on pages 29-31, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4769.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/3797078