Pterostichus (Tschitscherinea) sterbai Jedlicka 1934, new subgenus
Creators: name: Yin, Wen-Qi
name: Chen, Jia-Heng
name: Shi, Hong-Liang
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Carabidae
Pterostichus
Pterostichus sterbai

description: Pterostichus (Tschitscherinea) sterbai Jedlička, 1934, new subgenus assignment
Figures 13–15, 30, 43, 49
Chinese vernacular name: 什ĸdzā±Ƥ
Jedlička 1934: 18 (Original: Pterostichus: subgenus incertae; holotype in NMPC; type locality: Yunnan: Pei-Yen-Tsin); Jedlička 1962: 303 (subgenus incertae); Sciaky 1997: 163 (subgenus Jedlickaia).
Material examined. Holotype of P. sterbai Jedlička, female (NMPC, Fig. 13): “Pe Yen Tsin, Yunnan ”; “Type” [red label], “Mus. Nat. Pragae, Inv. 22404 ”, “ sterbai, type, sp.n., Det. Ing. Jedlička ” [pink label]. Paratypes of P. sterbai Jedlička: 2 females (NMPC): “Pe Yen Tsin, Yunnan ”, “Cotype” [red label], “Mus. Nat. Pragae, Inv. 22405/22406 ”, “ sterbai, m., det. Ing. Jedlička ” [pink label]; 1 male (NMPC): “Pe Yen Tsin, Yunnan ”, “Cotype” [red label], “ sterbai, det. Ing. Jedlička ”[pink label]; Non-type material: 1 male (MNHN): “Pe Yen Tsin, Yunnan ”, “Muséum Paris, Coll. R. Oberthür, 1952”.
Diagnosis. This species is distinguishable among the subgenus by the combination of following characters: maxim width of head at outer margin of tempora; pronotum ovate, lateral margins distinctly arched near middle; eyes small, tempora strongly swollen behind eyes; elytra with isodiametric microsculpture; parascutellar pore absent; interval 3 with two setigerous pores. This species can be readily distinguished among this subgenus by its special pronotum shape.
Supplementary description. BL = 11.4–11.6 mm, BW = 4.0– 4.3 mm; eyes quite small, tempora strongly swollen behind eyes, longer than eyes, eyL/tpL = 0.63–0.71, maxim width of head at outer margin of tempora, HW/PW = 0.66–0.68. Pronotum ovate, PW/PL = 1.18–1.23, PBW/PW = 0.66–0.69, widest near anterior third; anterior margin slightly wider than posterior margin, PAW/PBW = 1.06–1.10; lateral margins distinctly arched near middle, gradually curved without sinuation to posterior angles; posterior angles rounded-obtuse, without denticle. Basal foveae shallow, distinctly punctate, inner and outer grooves faintly defined, fused to each at base. Elytra with isodiametric microsculpture; parascutellar pore present; humerus with small tooth, sharply projected out; interval 3 with two setigerous pores, both adjacent to stria 2. Male sternite VII with a round depression at middle (Fig. 49); meso- and metafemora distinctly thickened in males; metatarsus in a stout form in males (mt1 length/width = 2.1, Fig. 43), rather slender in females, segments 1–2 with outer-lateral ridge. Median lobe of aedeagus stout (length about 1.25 mm), apex distinctly curved ventrally in lateral view; apical lamella short and wide, apex rounded, slightly twisted to right; right paramere nearly straight, apical portion gradually attenuate to apex, apex sharply pointed. Endophallus with three lobes near gonopore all without sclerotized apex: left apical lobe (la) nearly triangular with sharp apex, surface finely scaled with slightly sclerotized apex; right apical lobe (ra) oblate, about equal sized as la, with rounded apex; ventral apical lobe (va) papillary, slightly smaller than other lobes, located on the dorsal apical surface of endophallus. (Fig. 30)
Remarks. This species is newly assigned to the subgenus Tschitscherinea for the reasons presented above (see discussions under the subgenus).
Distribution. This species was only known from its type locality, Pe Yen Tsin (= Shiyang Township N25.85°, E101.10°, Dayao county, Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, today), Yunnan province. There is no modern specimen of this species. (Fig. 54, cyan)
The mysterious species P. parvicollis Sciaky & Wrase, 1997 was only known by the female holotype previously. It was placed in the subgenus Morphohaptoderus for external similarities to P. geberti Sciaky & Wrase, 1997. However, this species has some external characteristics that aligned with the subgenus Tschitscherinea, including the somewhat parallel-sided body shape, thickened male metatarsus, and prominent elytral humeral tooth. In this study, we report the male of P. parvicollis. The morphological study of its male genitalia (Fig. 33) suggests a closer relationship to subgenus Morphohaptoderus: (1) the right paramere of P. parvicollis is very short, typical as nearly all members of Morphohaptoderus; (2) the apical lamella of aedeagus is somewhat similar to other species of Tschitscherinea, but slightly longer than all known species of the subgenus; (3) endophallus has a sclerotized piece near gonopore (Fig. 34), and such structure is absent in all known species of Tschitscherinea but present in some Morphohaptoderus. Moreover, P. parvicollis is also different from all other species of Tschitscherinea by the submentum with only one seta on each side, angular base of stria 1 almost absent, and the fifth tarsomere setose ventrally. Based on the above evidence, it is better to keep P. parvicollis within the subgenus Morphohaptoderus. However, its systematic position still needs future investigation. To facilitate a better morphological recognition and future systematic study for P. parvicollis, descriptions and illustrations for males of this species are provided in the present work.
description: Published as part of Yin, Wen-Qi, Chen, Jia-Heng & Shi, Hong-Liang, 2024, Revision of the Chinese endemic subgenus Tschitscherinea Berg, with descriptions of three new species (Coleoptera, Carabidae), pp. 43-65 in Zootaxa 5481 (1) on pages 54-55, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5481.1.3, http://zenodo.org/record/12742724