Quedius

Quedius sp.

Material examined: Kazakhstan: 1 ♀, Altai Mountains, Kholzun Ridge, 15 km SSW Karagai, Karagai River valley, 1750–1850 m, 15°20’ N, 84°59’ E, 20.VI.2012, R.Yu. Dudko leg. (ZIN).

Although sharing typical morphological adaptations to hypogean environment, this female specimen is clearly different from Q. repentinus and Q. roma, as well as from both the Q. przewalskii and the Q. mutilatus species groups. Unlike any of them, it has only two shallow and hardly visible punctures (the third, basalmost puncture absent) in the dorsal rows of the pronotum, only one puncture in the sublateral row, a dense row of rather large setae along the basal margin of the pronotum, and parallel-sided elytra with a nearly right sutural angle (as opposed to posteriorly diverging elytra with a blunt sutural angle in the other species) (Fig. 5). Obviously this specimen represents a species new to science. However, its formal description is postponed until male specimens become available.