Cheng-Bin Wang

Revision of the genus Ptomaphagus Hellwig (Coleoptera, Leiodidae, Cholevinae) from Taiwan Island

Abstract Ptomaphagus (s. str.) chenggongi sp. n. and Ptomaphagus (s. str.) tingtingae sp. n. (Coleoptera, Leiodidae, Cholevinae, Ptomaphagini) are described from Taiwan Island. In addition, a new subjective synonym is proposed, Ptomaphagus (s. str.) yasutoshii Nishikawa, 1993 = Ptomaphagus (s. str.) smetanai Perreau, 1996, syn. n. Relevant morphological characters of the examined Ptomaphagus species are illustrated with colour plates, and their known distributions are mapped.

Revision of the genus Ptomaphagus Hellwig (Coleoptera, Leiodidae, Cholevinae) from Japan

Abstract After examining Japanese material of Ptomaphagus Hellwig from various collections, a new species is described, Ptomaphagus (s. str.) piccoloi sp. n., and a new subjective synonym proposed, Ptomaphagus (s. str.) kuntzeni Sokolowski, 1957 = Ptomaphagus (s. str.) amamianus Nakane, 1963, syn. n., in this paper. Relevant morphological characters of examined species of Ptomaphagus are illustrated with colour plates, and known distributions are mapped.

Taxonomy of the genus Ptomaphaginus Portevin (Coleoptera: Leiodidae: Cholevinae: Ptomaphagini) from China, with description of eleven new species

Ptomaphaginus Portevin, 1914 is one of the most speciose genera in the tribe Ptomaphagini (Coleoptera: Leiodidae: Cholevinae). Its members are mainly soil dwellers and are almost all distributed in the Oriental Region. This paper reports eleven new species from China: P. guangxiensis sp. nov. (type locality: Napo, Guangxi autonomous region), P. gutianshanicus sp. nov. (type locality: Gutianshan, Zhejiang province), P. luoi sp. nov. (type locality: Shennongjia, Hubei province), P. newtoni sp. nov. (type locality: Wuzhishan, Hainan province), P. perreaui sp. nov. (type locality: Jinghong, Yunnan province), P. quadricalcarus sp. nov. (type locality: Xishuangbanna, Yunnan province), P. ruzickai sp. nov. (type locality: Baoxing, Sichuan province), P. shennongensis sp. nov. (type locality: Shennongjia, Hubei province), P. wenboi sp. nov. (type locality: Fushan, Taiwan province), P. wuzhishanicus sp. nov. (type locality: Wuzhishan, Hainan province) and P. yui sp. nov. (type locality: Lijiang, Yunnan province). Five other species known to occur in China were also reviewed and mostly redescribed to update the knowledge on their identification. The Chinese fauna of the genus Ptomaphaginus is thus increased to sixteen species. Important characters on the last two visible ventrites and aedeagus in the male as well as on the ventral side of the proleg are discussed, detailed line drawings are offered for each species, and a key to species from China is presented.

Revision of the genus Ptomaphagus Hellwig (Coleoptera, Leiodidae, Cholevinae) from the Russian Far East and the Korean Peninsula

Abstract The conundrum of Ptomaphagus (s. str.) sibiricus Jeannel, 1934 (Coleoptera, Leiodidae, Cholevinae, Ptomaphagini) is solved, and it is redescribed and newly recorded in South Korea. A new species is also described from the Russian Far East: Ptomaphagus (s. str.) hayashii sp. n. Relevant morphological characters of the concerned species are illustrated with colour plates, and their known distributions are mapped.

Revision of the genus Ptomaphagus Hellwig from eastern Asia (Coleoptera, Leiodidae, Cholevinae)

Abstract The species belonging to the genus Ptomaphagus Hellwig, 1795 (Coleoptera, Leiodidae, Cholevinae, Ptomaphagini) from eastern Asia are assigned to three species groups. Group yasutoshii has a single species: P. (s. str.) yasutoshii Nishikawa, 1993 from Taiwan, China. Group nepalensis with three species: P. (s. str.) nepalensis Perreau, 1988 from Nepal and P. (s. str.) masumotoi Nishikawa, 2011 from Thailand are redescribed, and P. (s. str.) piccoloi Wang, Růžička, Nishikawa, Perreau & Hayashi, 2016 is recorded for the first time from China (Zhejiang). Group sibiricus with seven species, including two newly described Chinese ones P. (s. str.) funiu sp. n. from Henan, and P. (s. str.) haba sp. n. from Yunnan, and five known species: P. (s. str.) chenggongi Wang, Nishikawa, Perreau, Růžička & Hayashi, 2016, P. (s. str.) hayashii Wang, Růžička, Perreau, Nishikawa & Park, 2016, P. (s. str.) kuntzeni Sokolowski, 1957 (distribution records from Myanmar excluded), P. (s. str.) sibiricus Jeannel, 1934 and P. (s. str.) tingtingtae Wang, Nishikawa, Perreau, Růžička & Hayashi, 2016. Specimens of other undescribed species of the group sibiricus are also recorded, revealing a high diversity of this genus in eastern Asia, especially in central and north Sichuan, China, which essentially remains to be investigated. Relevant morphological characters of the examined species are illustrated with colour plates, and their known distributions are mapped. A key to species of Ptomaphagus from eastern Asia is provided.

Omoglymmius (s. str.) wukong sp. n., a new species from Xizang, China (Coleoptera, Rhysodidae, Omoglymmiini)

Abstract Omoglymmius (s. str.) wukong sp. n. (Coleoptera: Rhysodidae: Omoglymmiini) is described from Xizang, China. Relevant morphological characters of the new species are illustrated with colour plates, and known distribution of the subgenus Omoglymmius in the Himalayan region is mapped.

Rhyzodiastes ( Temoana ) xii sp. nov. (Coleoptera: Rhysodidae: Clinidiini), a new species from Hainan Island, China

Rhyzodiastes (Temoana) xii sp. nov. (Coleoptera: Rhysodidae: Clinidiini) is described from Hainan Island, China. Important morphological characters of the new species are illustrated. An updated key to nine species of of the R. (T.) singularis species-group is compiled so as to include the new species.

Two new species of the Anemadus taiwanus species-group (Coleoptera: Leiodidae: Cholevinae: Anemadini) from China

Anemadus perreaui sp. nov. and A. sichuanus sp. nov., both belong to the A. taiwanus species-group (Coleoptera: Leiodidae: Cholevinae, Anemadini), are described from Sichuan Province, China. Color plates and line drawings are offered to illustrate their important characteristics. A key to all species of the group is compiled so as to include the two new species.

Sinocatops gen. nov., an apterous genus of Cholevini (Coleoptera: Leiodidae: Cholevinae) from China, with emphasis on differences with allied Rybinskiella Reitter, 1906.

A new apterous genus (Sinocatops gen. nov.) with a single new species (S. ruzickai sp. nov.) of Cholevini, is described from Sichuan Province, China. It is compared in detail to allied Rybinskiella Reitter, 1906 with some selected but important morphological characters to show their differences presented in a table. Color plates are presented to illustrate important morphological characters of S. ruzickai sp. nov. and examined species of Rybinskiella. The taxonomic state of Rybinskiella is also briefly disscussed.

The Relative Importance of Spatial and Local Environmental Factors in Determining Beetle Assemblages in the Inner Mongolia Grassland

The aim of this paper is to increase understanding of the relative importance of the input of geographic and local environmental factors on richness and composition of epigaeic steppe beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae and Tenebrionidae) along a geographic (longitudinal/precipitation) gradient in the Inner Mongolia grassland. Specifically, we evaluate the associations of environmental variables representing climate and environmental heterogeneity with beetle assemblages. Beetles were sampled using pitfall traps at 25 sites scattered across the full geographic extent of the study biome in 2011–2012. We used variance partitioning techniques and multi-model selection based on the Akaike information criterion to assess the relative importance of the spatial and environmental variables on beetle assemblages. Species richness and abundance showed unimodal patterns along the geographic gradient. Together with space, climate variables associated with precipitation, water-energy balance and harshness of climate had strong explanatory power in richness pattern. Abundance pattern showed strongest association with variation in temperature and environmental heterogeneity. Climatic factors associated with temperature and precipitation variables and the interaction between climate with space were able to explain a substantial amount of variation in community structure. In addition, the turnover of species increased significantly as geographic distances increased. We confirmed that spatial and local environmental factors worked together to shape epigaeic beetle communities along the geographic gradient in the Inner Mongolia grassland. Moreover, the climate features, especially precipitation, water-energy balance and temperature, and the interaction between climate with space and environmental heterogeneity appeared to play important roles on controlling richness and abundance, and species compositions of epigaeic beetles.