Apharinodes baixiensis Zhu & Wang 2024, sp. nov.

Apharinodes baixiensis Zhu & Wang sp. nov. Materials Type status: Holotype. Occurrence: recordedBy: Jiang Zhu, Ru-Tian Ye & Zhen-Yu Piao; individualCount: 1; sex: male; lifeStage: adult; Location: country: China; stateProvince: Guangdong; verbatimLocality: Heyuan City, Zijin County, Baixi Provincial Nature Reserve, Tangpa Mountain [河源市紫金县白溪省级自然保护区烫耙岭]; verbatimElevation: 274 m; decimalLatitude: 23.707126; decimalLongitude: 115.175949; geodeticDatum: WGS 84; Event: verbatimEventDate: 28. III. 2024; Record Level: institutionCode: SNUC Description Holotype Male. Body 1.77 mm in length, 0.76 mm in width, widest at second visible adbominal tergite. Length of body parts (mm): head (0.38), eye (0.13), antennae (0.73), pronotum (0.37), elytra (0.54); width: head (0.38), eye (0.07), pronotum (0.37), elytra (0.68). Habitus (Fig. 1 A – D). Body dark reddish-brown, mostly covered by thick yellownish setae. Setae on legs and antennomere 11 finer; on other antennomeres, slightly stronger; on other body parts, enlarged to squamous scales. Head subelliptical, as long as wide, widest across eyes. Dorsum entirly covered by yellownish scale-like setae; setae on clypeus slightly thinner. Clypeus slightly convex, nearly covering bases of antennae; eyes large, distinctly prominent, berry-shaped, each composed of about 20 facets; postocular margins shorter than eyes, roundly narrowed towards head base; frons with two connected semi-circular patches of squamous setae; maxillary palpi small and short, three-segmented, with distinct conical palpal cone; gular area flat. Antennae robust, each with ten antennomeres which are close to each other, large club forming antennomere 11; antennomere 1 robust, cylindrical, about equal to length of antennomeres 2 + 3 + 4 combined; antennomeres 3 to 10 strongly transverse, successively wider, quite close to each other; antennomere 11 largest, about equal to length of antennomeres 2 to 10 combined, medio-dorsal surface with large, deep, circular excavation, nearly bowl-shaped, width / length = 0.83. Prothorax. Pronotum width equal to length, subcylindrical, broadest at middle, nearly straight from middle to base, narrowed from middle towards apex. Surface fully covered by dense squamous scales, has two lateral pairs of squamous bands of setae and one median longitudinal band, nearly equal in length. Elytra convex, wider than long, posterior margin with band of dense scale-like setae, two basal foveae covered by squamous setae, with weak discal and sutural striae. Metathoracic wings lacking. Mesoventrite densely covered with small squamous setae; metaventrite densely covered with setae at middle, areas posterior to mesocoxae with two longitudinal projections that extend to metaventral posterior margin. Legs slightly lighter than other parts in colour, densely covered by hair-like setae. Inner claw of each tarsus highly degraded into seta shape. Abdomen subglobose, wider than long; tergite IV as long as V, with pair of lateral foveae, tergites VI and VII slightly shorter than V, tergite VIII (Fig. 2 H) sparsely punctured, rather slightly emarginate at posterior margin; sternites IV to VII successively shorter, sternite VIII (Fig. 2 I) shallowly emarginate at middle of posterior margin, sternite IX composed of paired membranous structures. Aedeagus (Fig. 2 A – G) 0.27 mm long, median lobe broad, with large basal capsule, broadly emarginate along apical margin; parameres invisible, probably lacking; endophallus composed of two sclerites in vertical arrangement, dorsal sclerite spina-like, ventral sclerite much stronger, spiral-shaped and slightly curved, more sclerotised laterally. Female. Unknown. Diagnosis Apharinodes baixiensis sp. nov. can be easily distinguished from any other congeners by the combination of the following characters: 1) antennomere 11 bowl-shaped impression in dorsal view (in A. sinensis, antennomere XI with deep, rounded excavation generally); 2) prothorax has two lateral pairs of squamous bands of setae and one median longitudinal band, nearly equal in length (in A. sinensis, anterolateral patches of squamous setae on pronotum shorter than basolateral patches); 3) Inner claw of each tarsus highly degraded into seta shape (in A. sinensis, inner claw also degraded into seta shape, but more developed); 4) frons with two separate semi-circular patches of squamous setae; 5) endophallus composed of two sclerites in vertical arrangement, the dorsal sclerite spina-like; the ventral sclerite much stronger, spiral-shaped and slightly curved, more sclerotised laterally, parameres invisible, probably lacking (in A. sinensis, endophallus composed of three long sclerites, parameres short and thick, each with three thick apical setae). Etymology The specific epithet is from the Chinese name (Pinyin) of the type locality " Baixi Provincial Nature Reserve ". The name is an adjective. Distribution China (Guangdong).