Heptodonta vermifera W. Horn 1908
Creators: name: Görn, Sebastian
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2020
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Carabidae
Heptodonta
Heptodonta vermifera

description: Heptodonta vermifera W. Horn, 1908
Figs. 68–77
Heptodonta vermifera W. Horn, 1908a: 84.
Odontochila (“group” Heptodonta) vermifera W. Horn, 1910: 204.
Odontochila (Heptodonta) vermifera W. Horn, 1926: 123.
Type locality. Yunnan.
Type material. Lectotype (designated here): ♂ in SDEI, labelled: “Donckier / Yunnan ” [with black frame, printed/handwritten] // “Type! / Dr. W. Horn ” [with black frame, printed] // “ Syntypus ” [red, printed] // “ Coll. W. Horn / DEI Eberswalde” [printed]. Paralectotypes: 1 ♂ in SDEI with same labels as holotype. 1 ♂ in SDEI: “ Yunnan ” [printed] // “Donckier” [with black frame, printed] // “Type! / Dr. W. Horn ” [with black frame, printed] // “ Syntypus ” [red, printed] // “ Coll. W. Horn / DEI Eberswalde” [printed] // “vermifera / mihi” [yellow with black frame, handwritten] // “SDEI Coleoptera / # 301575” [printed]. All type specimens labelled: “ LECTOTYPE (or PARALECTOTYPE) / Heptodonta / vermifera / W. Horn, 1908 / design. Sebastian Görn 2020” [red, printed].
Diagnosis. Unique in the genus with the posterior deeply grooved, reticular elytral surface. Besides some specimens of H. arrowi, H. horii sp. nov., and H. posticalis, the only Heptodonta species with testaceous to dark-testaceous scape, but in contrast to H. arrowi and H. horii sp. nov. without dense elytral punctuation, slender antennae, and trapezoid labrum, and unlike H. posticalis without dense elytral punctuation, short male labrum, and elongated triangular female labrum. Typical rounded shoulders. Lateral elytral margin greenish not violet. Apart from H. arrowi, the only Heptodonta with blunt aedeagal apex.
Redescription. Body size: Length 10.9–11.7 mm (without labrum), width 3.3–3.6 mm (Figs. 68–69, 75–76).
Dorsal surface of head metallic copper-green to reddish, with coarse grooves. Frons irregularly transverse grooved. Vertex anterior with diverging grooves transitioning to orbital plates with converging grooves, anteromedian and posterior irregularly rugose. Orbital plates with rather coarse converging striae and with two setae on each side. Occiput with wrinkled transverse grooves, anteromedially irregularly rugose. Genae glabrous (except for two males with a single seta each) and considerably grooved, entirely reddish-coloured or anterior copper and posterior yellowish-green. Clypeus glabrous, metallic copper or reddish with two anterior green spots. Labrum testaceous, with four setae, five acute apical teeth, and one lateral tooth on each side, shape rather semicircular and slightly shorter in males (0.93–0.98 mm long, 1.48–1.55 mm wide, Fig. 70) compared to females (1.08–1.13 mm long, 1.50–1.63 mm wide, Fig. 71). Mandibles testaceous, teeth rufous-brown to dark-brown. Labial and maxillary palpi testaceous, terminal palpomeres in males anterior and in females entirely black. Antennae comparatively robust, extending back over the first third of the elytra, metallic black to dark-testaceous, scape, pedicel, and distal antennomeres 3–4 usually testaceous to dark-testaceous; scape with a single apical seta, antennomeres 3–4 with few scattered setae, antennomeres 5–11 finely and evenly pubescent.
Thorax entirely glabrous. Pronotum metallic green-bronze or reddish-green, slightly elongated in males (2.28– 2.48 mm long, 2.20–2.33 mm wide) and approximately as long (2.18–2.35 mm) as wide (2.20–2.38 mm) in females, moderate median line blue, irregular transverse grooves wrinkled on disc only or up to median line, pronounced anterior and posterior sulci, anterior lobe wider than posterior, lateral margins of median lobe rather convex. Ventral surface with pronounced microsculpture. Episterna, epimera, and sterna copper and green, bronze and bluish-green, or mixture of red, yellow, copper, and bluish-green, mesepisternum anterior with bluish-green aspect; proepimeron usually copper with some violet spotting.
Elytra elongate, length 6.6–7.2 mm, dilated laterally, maximal width at the middle or posterior, colouration metallic green with iridescent yellowish-copper to reddish lustre, typical rounded shoulders, brilliant shine due to reduced (but still visible) microsculpture; lateral margin greenish; juxtahumeral, discal, mediolateral, anteroapical, and apical impression, as well as posterior gibbosity slightly pronounced, basodiscal convexity moderate, juxtahumeral and discal impression merged, punctures fused to deep grooves running transversely anteriorly and converging to apex posteriorly.
Coxae dark-testaceous with iridescent copper, bronze or reddish, plus green and blue lustre, pro- and mesocoxae anterior and metacoxae laterally densely covered with long white setae. Trochanters dark-brown to testaceous. Femora testaceous, but femoral distal apices with black tip, followed by a testaceous ring (more or less reduced in metafemora) and a metallic green, shining blackish colouration on entire posterior side. Tibiae testaceous, but distal apex and usually entire posterior side blackish. Tarsi black to testaceous with black distal apex. Claws black to testaceous.
Abdominal sternites glabrous (apart from few long setae at posterior margins), with blue-violet lustre, terminal sternite with broad and sternites 3–5 with fine dark-testaceous posterior margins, or completely dark-testaceous terminal sternite (Fig. 72).
Aedeagus rather angled, length 2.58–2.70 mm, medioventrally convex, dorsally continuously curved, apex straight or slightly pointed ventrally, aedeagal tip rather obtusely angled, aedeagal base quite steeply sloping. Inner sac in right lateral aspect with dark-testaceous apical-anteromedian spine row, in left lateral aspect medioventrally with short, dark-testaceous arciform sclerite, dorsal and ventral anteroapically with slender wavy sclerite, and median with small sclerite plate (Figs. 73–74, 77).
Variability. While the four specimens recorded from Lijiang (Figs. 75–76) share the unique species-specific characters of H. vermifera with the four other individuals of the species also collected in Yunnan (Figs. 68–69), they differ conspicuously to some degree: their labrum is characterized by less acute third teeth and the three median teeth are more pointed, elytral punctures are anteriorly entirely fused and the aedeagal apex is even more obtuse. However, due to the low number of known specimens it is not possible to assess the morphological variability of H. vermifera, and so the individuals from Lijiang are not treated here as a separate subspecies.
Distribution. Southern CHINA (Yunnan).
Additional material examined. 5 specimens. CHINA: Yunnan, Lijiang, Jade Spring park, (Yuquan park), 2650m, 26°53’09.02’’N 100°14’13.04’’E, 24.VI.–5.VII.2014 (CKCE); WNW Yunnan, Djo Kon La, Gucung (SDEI).
Remarks. This species occurs on the high mountains of northwestern Yunnan (Horn 1908a, 1910, 1926; Wiesner 1992). More recent records of H. vermifera (Sawada & Wiesner 2002b; Shook & Wiesner 2006; Shook & Wu 2007; Putchkov & Matalin 2017) refer to reddish medium-sized specimens of H. pulchella (Fig. 132).
description: Published as part of Görn, Sebastian, 2020, Revision of the Oriental tiger beetle genus Heptodonta Hope, 1838 (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae), pp. 1-62 in Zootaxa 4875 (1) on pages 27-28, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4875.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/4578779