Xuedytes

Xuedytes bellus is a species of beetle found in Du'an, Guangxi Province, China and, as of 2018, 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. 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