Xuedytes bellus is a species of beetle found in Du'an, Guangxi Province, China and, as of 2018[update], the only known species in the genus Xuedytes. This species may be "the most extremely cave-adapted trechine" beetle in the world, morphologically adapted to life in the darkness of the caves of southern China.[1] It lacks flight wings, eyes, and pigmentation.[2] Its physical characteristics most resemble the beetle genera Giraffahaenops and Dongodytes. Like Giraffahaenops, Xuedytes bellus has a thin and elongated body. However, its elytra are similar to those of Dongodytes. The genus Xuedytes differs from both of the aforementioned genera in its prothorax, which is longer than its head, its narrow elytra, and the right mandibular tooth shows an evolutionary adaptation.[clarification needed] Xuedytes are generally 8.3–9.0 mm in length when measured from the apex of the right mandible to the elytral apex and 1.4–1.5 mm in width. It is characterized as having a yellowish brown body, with tarsi, palps, and antennae pale, and a strongly shining head.[1]
| Xuedytes | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Family: | Carabidae |
| Subfamily: | Trechinae |
| Genus: | Xuedytes Tian & Huang, 2017 |
| Species: | X. bellus
|
| Binomial name | |
| Xuedytes bellus Tian & Huang, 2017
| |
References
edit- ^ a b Tian, M.; Huang, S.; Wang, D. (2017). "NCBI - US National Library of Medicine - Discovery of a most remarkable cave-specialized trechine beetle from southern China (Coleoptera, Carabiddae, Trechinae)". ZooKeys (725): 37–47. doi:10.3897/zookeys.725.21040. PMC 5769675. PMID 29362539.
- ^ "ESF - College of Environmental Science and Forestry - Cave Beetle: Imprints of darkness". www.esf.edu. Retrieved 2018-11-09.