Echinovelleda protochinensis Bi & Lin 2024, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Bi, Wen-Xuan
name: Mu, Chen
name: Lin, Mei-Ying
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Cerambycidae
Echinovelleda
Echinovelleda protochinensis

description: Echinovelleda protochinensis Bi & Lin, sp. nov.
(Figs. 9, 10, 19, 25, Map 1)
Type material. Holotype: male, “ CHINA, Yunnan, Zhaotong / Daguan, Sanjiangkou / 1,830 m, 2022.VII.11 em. VII–VIII / leg. J.-T. Zhao & W.-X. Bi ” (SNUC).
Paratypes: 1 female, same data as holotype (CBWX); 1 female ditto except “em. X.22” (CBWX); 2 femals, same locality as holotype, “ 1,700 –1,850 m / 2022.VI.29, leg. Jin-Teng Zhao ” (CCCC); 1 female, ditto except “ 1,750 m 2022.VI.22 em. XI.13 / leg. J.-T. Zhao (CCCC); 1 male, 4 females, “F1. CHINA, Yunnan, Zhaotong / Daguan, Sanjiangkou / 1,850 m, 2022.VI.29 em. 2023 / IV.20–24, leg. Jin-Teng Zhao ” (CBWX); 4 males 4 females, ditto except “em. 2023 / V.30–VI.8 ” (CCCC); 1 female, same locality as holotype, “ 1991.VII.2 / 2,000 m, leg. Ning-Nian Xiao ” (KIZ); 1 male, “ CHINA, Sichuan, Leibo / Xiningzhen, Yangheping / 1,650 –1,940 m / 2022.VII.15, leg. Jin-Teng Zhao ” (CCCC).
Description. Male (Fig. 9). BL = 14.3–17.3 mm, BW = 4.6–5.7 mm. Integument of body, scape and pedicel blackish; femora and tarsi brown to dark brown, antennomeres III to XI and tibiae reddish brown. Head, pronotum, ventral surfaces and legs mostly covered with light brown to tawny pubescence, intermixed with sparse pale hairs and blackish setae, the pubescence relatively denser ventrally, almost obscuring integument except with three pair of lateral glabrous spots on abdominal ventrite II–IV respectively. Head with yellow to tawny pubescence densely forming five vittae situated between the antennal tubercles, behind the upper eye lobes and behind the genae respectively. Antennae clothed with yellowish pubescence, relatively sparser and thicker on the scape, relatively denser and finer on the extreme apices of antennomeres III to IX. Pronotum with same type of pubescence forming one broad longitudinal stripe across the midline, two narrow stripes beside the middle one on basal half, two board stripes beneath the lateral spines, and forming small spots mainly on the tips of the discal calli or sparsely scattered throughout. Scutellum densely clothed with yellow pubescence except for a narrow glabrous midline. Elytra predominantly covered with light brown pubescence, interspersed with some small yellow pubescent spots mainly behind the scutellum, some yellowish to pale spots or patches scattered along the lateral margins and on apical fourth, and a few blackish velvety maculae near apical fourth.
Head slightly broader than pronotal base; frons sparsely and coarsely punctate; lower eye lobe 1.7 times as long as width, 0.8 times as long as gena. Antennae long, AL/BL = 2.2–3.1; scape rugose, coarsely punctate; antennomere III 1.8 times as long as scape, subequal to IV, V or VI.
Pronotum subequal in length and basal width, the width across lateral spines about 1.6 times of basal width; lateral spine moderately long with acute apex; disk moderately convex, irregularly rugose, sparsely and shallowly punctate, three main calli slightly elevated. Scutellum broadly rounded posteriorly.
Elytra ca. 1.6 times as wide as pronotal base, EL/EW = 1.8–1.9; subparallel-sided in basal half, then gradually convergent towards separately subacute apices; humeri developed; each elytron conspicuously with series of large, glabrous, mostly conical tubercles forming three longitudinal rows, of which one row is close to the suture extending from elytral base to apical third, composed of 2–5 tubercles, broadly interrupted before its midlength, one lateral row is close to the elytral epipleuron, occupying basal half, consisted of about 5 tubercles, usually relatively small, and one dorsolateral row of 5–7 tubercles is situated between the former two, from behind the humerus to apical one-fifth, with the distal tubercle usually the largest, disk also scattered with a few small granules mainly on basal half and sparsely finely punctate throughout. Hind wings developed, 1.4–1.5 times as long as elytral length. Metaventrite moderately developed, ca. 1.5 times as long as mesoventral length. Legs long, metafemora exceeding elytral apices.
Male genitalia. Tergite VIII, tegmen and median lobe as in Fig. 19. Endophallus (Fig. 25) similar to that of Echinovelleda chinensis ssp. (cf. Fig. 21) except for the MT and CT hardly defined from each other due to the comparatively shallower constriction, and APH with bb moderately developed (apical portion elongate and distinctly swollen distally), with gn situated at its dorsal side (Fig. 25a).
Female (Fig. 10). BL = 17.1.–19.0 mm, BW = 5.6–6.2 mm. Almost identical to male in general appearance. Body relatively stout. Appendages relatively shorter. AL/BL = 1.8–1.9. EL/EW = 2.0.
Etymology. From the combination of Greek “prôtos”, meaning original, and specific name “ chinensis ”.
Distribution (Map 1). China: Yunnan (Daguan County); Sichuan (Leibo County).
Remarks. The sharply armed elytral appearance of E. protochinensis Bi & Lin, sp. nov., E. yanziae and E. chinensis spp. suggest a possible close relationship of them. This species can be distinguished from E. yanziae by the antennomeres III to XI covered with very fine yellowish pubescence not obscuring the integument which giving them a reddish brown appearance (instead of with dense yellowish pubescence completely obscuring the integument), elytron scattered with light-colored pubescent spots (instead of with light-colored pubescence occupying most part of apical two-fifths) and both pronotal lateral spines and elytral main tubercles relatively thicker. The new species can also be separated from E. chinensis spp. by the characters associated with the flight capability (e.g. the elongate elytra with developed hind wings or the normally developed metaventrite) and endophallus with ltc relatively slender, basal part of PB relatively longer and APH with bb moderately developed (apical portion elongate and distinctly swollen distally) and gn situated at its dorsal side.
description: Published as part of Bi, Wen-Xuan, Mu, Chen & Lin, Mei-Ying, 2024, Taxonomic studies on the genera Echinovelleda Breuning, 1936 and Propedicellus Huang, Huang & Liu, 2020 (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Lamiinae, Lamiini), pp. 65-78 in Zootaxa 5399 (1) on pages 72-73, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5399.1.5, http://zenodo.org/record/10477787