Yunotrechus diannanensis n. gen., n. sp., the first troglobitic trechine (Coleoptera: Carabidae) from a tropical area of China

Summary

In the present paper Yunotrechus diannanensis n. gen., n. sp. is described and illustrated from two limestone caves which are close to each other in Wenshan and Maguan counties of southern Yunnan Province, southwestern China. Yunotrechus is an anophthalmoid, not directly related to any hypogean trechine genera hitherto known in Yunnan or in southeastern Asian countries because all of them are aphaenopsoids, with elongated prothorax and tumid propleura. The phylogenetic position of Yunotrechus within Trechinae in China or southeastern Asia remains unclear, although it may be related to Superbotrechus Deuve & Tian 2009, which was recorded from western Hubei Province, central China, and Sichuanotrechus Deuve 2006, which was recorded from northern Sichuan Province, southwestern China. Y. diannanensis n. sp. is the first troglobitic trechine beetle discovered in a tropical area of China.

Résumé

Yunotrechus diannanensis n. gen., n. sp., le premier trechine troglobiote de la partie tropicale de la Chine (Coleoptera : Carabidae). Le présent article décrit et illustre Yunotrechus diannanensis n. gen., n. sp. de deux grottes calcaires proches dans les cantons de Waishen et Maguan, sud de la province de Yunnan, sud-ouest de la Chine. Yunotrechus est anophthalmoïde, sans relation directe avec un quelconque genre de trechine hypogée connu du Yunnan ou d’un autre pays du sud-est asiatique. En effet, la plupart de ces derniers sont aphaenopsoïdes, avec un prothorax allongé et des propleures tumides. La position phylogénétique de Yunotrechus parmi les Trechinae de Chine ou du sud-ouest de l’Asie reste obscur, bien qu’il puisse être proche de Superbotrechus Deuve & Tian 2009, connu de l’ouest de la province de Hbei, Chine centrale et de Sichuanotrechus Deuve 2006, du nord de la province du Sichuan, sud-ouest de la Chine. Y. diannanensis n. sp. est le premier coléoptère troglobie découvert dans la partie tropicale de la Chine.

Keywords:

• ground beetle
• cavernicolous
• Oriental Region
• Yunnan

Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Thierry Deuve (MNHN, Paris) and Dr. Arnaud Faille (Zoologische Staatsammlung, Munich) for their discussions and constructive suggestions which were helpful in improving the manuscript. Our thanks are also due to an anonymous reviewer for critical remarks. This study was sponsored by the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China [Grant no. 20134404110026] and National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant no. 41271602].