The species of the genus Zaitzevia Champion, 1923 (Coleoptera, Elmidae) from Shaanxi Province, China

A synopsis of the species of the genus Zaitzevia Champion, 1923 from Shaanxi Province (China) is provided. Five new species are described: Z. coronifer sp. nov., Z. disparilis sp. nov., Z. hybrida sp. nov., Z. pilosa sp. nov., and Z. robusta sp. nov. These five new species are not confined to Shaanxi but recorded also from other provinces: Z. coronifer (Hubei), Z. disparilis (Anhui, Gansu, Guizhou, Hunan), Z. hybrida (Gansu, Sichuan, Yunnan), Z. pilosa (Hubei, Hunan), and Z. robusta (Hubei, Sichuan).

A key to the six Zaitzevia species currently known from Shaanxi, as well as photographs of the habitus and the aedeagi, are provided. The morphological delimitation of the genera Zaitzevia and Zaitzeviaria Nomura, 1959 is briefly discussed on the basis of the newly established Zaitzevia hybrida species group, which is wide-spread in the Himalaya and China and combines diagnostic characters of Zaitzevia as well as Zaitzeviaria.

In addition, an updated checklist of the 21 species of Zaitzevia now recorded from China is presented. The genus Zaitzevia is recorded for the first time from Anhui, Gansu, and Guizhou. Zaitzevia fengtongzhaiensis Jiang & Chen, 2023 is recorded for the first time from Gansu and Yunnan.

Based on particular morphological characters, the specimens recorded by Bian and Zhang (2022) from Shaanxi and Yunnan as Z. chenzhitengi are here regarded as a closely related, undescribed species.