Aspidaphaenops dudou Tian & Huang 2018, n. sp.

Aspidaphaenops dudou n. sp.

Figs. 1a, 2C, 7B, 10, 11A, B, 12, 13

Material. Holotype male, Xiaozi Dong, Houshan, Sege, Wushan, Xingyi, Qianxinan, Guizhou, 25°06’43.58’’ N / 104°46’32.58’’ E, 1764 m, 14-V-2017, Mingyi Tian, Weixin Liu, Xiaozhu Luo, Pingjing Yang & Yanyi Pu leg., in SCAU; paratypes: 7 females, ibid, in SCAU.

Length: 5.9–6.2 mm; width: 1.4–1.5 mm. Habitus as in Fig. 10.

Body yellowish brown to brown, but pale on mouthparts palps and tarsi; moderately shiny and whole body including abdominal ventrites glabrous, legs pubescent; microsculptural engraved meshes moderately transverse on head, strongly transverse on pronotum and elytra; fore body (with mandibles) slightly shorter than elytra, (HmL+PrL) / EL = 0.97, (HlL+PrL) / EL = 0.79.

Head elongated quadrate, much longer than wide, HLm/HW = 2.10–2.34, HLl/HW = 1.58–1.59; widest just behind sockets of antennae, at about 1/4 of head from labrum, genae gently and straightly narrowed posteriad; frons and vertex moderately convex, frontal furrows well-marked, deep and slightly divergent posteriad, ended at about middle of head from clypeus; clypeus transverse, quadrisetose; labrum transverse, frontal margin slightly emarginated, 6-setose (but 7-setose in a male paratype); anterior and posterior supraorbital setiferous pores at about middle and basal 2/11 of head from labrum respectively; mentum and submentum completely fused, mentum bisetose on either side of tooth which is simple and blunt at apex, basal fovea widely concave; submentum 8- setose; both maxillary and labial palps thin and subcylindrical, glabrous except for the 2nd labial palpomere which is bisetose on inner margin; the penultimate labial and maxillary palpomere about 1.3 times longer than the last one respectively; suborbital pore closer to base than to submentum. Antennae thin and long, extending over apices of elytra.

Elytra elongated ovate (Fig. 7B), much wider than wide, EL/EW = 1.55–1.58; much wider than pronotum, EW/PnW = 1.88–1.91; widest near the middle, lateral sides finely ciliate throughout, marginal gutters wellmarked; punctures of striae visible; sites of anterior dorsal pores variable, at the portions from basal 1/3 of elytra to middle; middle pores at basal 4/7 of elytra; preapical pores closer to elytral suture than to elytral apices; the 1st to 3rd pores of the marginal umbilicate series equidistant, 4th backwardly isolated, 5th and 6th pores close to each other.

Legs thin and long, bearing short pubescence; fore tibia smooth, absence of a longitudinal furrow or sulcus; the

1 st tarsomere as long as the 2nd –4th tarsomeres together in fore, middle and hind legs, respectively.

Ventrites IV–VI each with a pair of paramedian setae; ventrite VII bisetose in male, quadrisetose in female.

Male genitalia (Figs. 11A, B): Moderately sclerotized, thin and slender, similar in A. masakii Uéno, 2006 (Figs. 11C, D). Median lobe moderately arcuate ventrally at about basal 1/4, apical lobe thinner and a little longer, slightly recurved and reflexed at apex; base wide, with a very large sagittal aileron; inner sac of the median lobe with an anisotopic and long copulatory piece which is about 1/4 as long as the median lobe; in dorsal view, apex broad, slightly expanded at sides, roundly blunt at apex; parameters fairly large, about 1/3 as long as median lobe, each with four long apical setae.

Remarks. Aspidaphaenops dudou n. sp. is close to Aspidaphaenops volatidraconis Uéno, 2006 but differs from it by: (1) head thinner, sides straightly narrowed posteriad (vs. thicker, sides slightly dilated in A. volatidraconis); (2) fore angles of pronotum sharp (vs. obtuse in A. volatidraconis); and (3) median lobe of male genitalia slenderer, with a larger sagittal aileron and longer apical lobe in lateral view (vs. median lobe shorter, with a smaller sagittal aileron and shorter apical lobe in A. volatidraconis) (Uéno, 2006, see Figs. 7–8).

Etymology. “Dudou” is a nickname of Mr. Hongbo Yang, the head of Jinzhou Cave Exploration Club in Xingyi, to thank his assistance during the survey.

Distribution. Guizhou (Xingyi). Known only from the cave Xiaozi Dong (Figs. 1a, 12).

Xiaozi Dong (Figs. 13A, B) opens at mid hill near village Sege, with a small entrance which is surrounded by bushes. It is about 200 m long, with a unique passage. There are several small chambers inside the cave, and a small pool at the end point. The blind beetles (Figs. 13C, D) were collected in the wet area between the second and third chambers, sympatric with ant-loving beetles, rove beetles, millipedes and diplurans.