Neoserica reuteri, Sreedevi & Ranasinghe & Fabrizi & Ahrens, 2019

Sreedevi, Kolla, Ranasinghe, Sasankha, Fabrizi, Silvia & Ahrens, Dirk, 2019, New species and records of Sericini from the Indian subcontinent (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae) II, European Journal of Taxonomy 567, pp. 1-26 : 16-17

Neoserica (s. lat.) reuteri sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:D04CB450-5100-4421-951E-926E13E309FC

Fig. 3 A–D

Diagnosis

Neoserica reuteri sp. nov. is in its external appearance very similar to the species of the Neoserica abnormis group. It differs from most similar Southern Indian taxa by the smaller body size, the bicolored body surface and the subsymmetrical genitalia (rather than evidently asymmetrical in other species): the apex of the phallobase and the tip of the parameres are slightly asymmetrical.

Etymology

The new species name (noun in the genitive case) is dedicated to its collector, Christoph Reuter (Beirut).

Type material

Holotype

INDIA • ♂; “NE India, Arunachal Pradesh, Bomdila, 27°16′ N, 92°25′ E, 28.VI.2008, 3000 m, leg. C. Reuter / 1028 Sericini Asia spec.”; NME.

Description

MEASUREMENTS. Length: 8.4 mm, length of elytra: 5.6 mm, width: 4.8 mm.

HABITUS AND COLORATION. Body oblong ( Fig. 3D ), blackish dark brown, pronotum, scutellum, and head with dark greenish shine, elytra dark reddish brown, antennal club yellowish brown, anterior labroclypeus shiny, dorsal surface dull, sparsely setose.

HEAD. Labroclypeus subtrapezoidal, distinctly wider than long, widest at base, lateral margins straight and slightly convergent anteriorly, anterior angles weakly rounded, anterior margin weakly sinuate medially, margins moderately reflexed; surface flat and shiny, basis with dull-iridescent tomentum, punctation fine and dense, behind anterior margin with coarse punctures each bearing a long erect seta; frontoclypeal suture indistinctly incised, flat and distinctly curved medially; smooth area anterior to eye approximately 1.2 times as wide as long; ocular canthus wide, triangular and short (nearly ⅓ of ocular diameter), impunctate, terminal seta lacking in holotype. Frons dull, with fine and sparse punctures, beside eyes with two erect setae. Eyes small, ratio of diameter/interocular width: 0.51. Antenna with ten antennomeres, club with six antennomeres, straight, 1.2 times as long as remaining antennomeres combined. Mentum elevated and slightly flattened anteriorly.

PRONOTUM. Moderately transverse, widest at base, lateral margins in basal half nearly straight and moderately convergent, in anterior half evenly convex and strongly convergent anteriorly, anterior angles sharp and distinctly produced, posterior angles blunt, slightly rounded at tip; anterior margin convex, without marginal line; surface densely and finely punctate, with minute setae in punctures; setae of anterior and lateral border sparse; hypomeron basally distinctly carinate, but carina only weakly produced. Scutellum short, triangular, with fine, moderately dense punctures, basally at middle smooth, with only minute setae.

ELYTRA. Oblong, widest at middle, striae distinctly impressed, finely and moderately densely punctate, intervals convex, with moderately dense, fine punctures concentrated along striae, odd intervals with a few fine white adpressed setae, otherwise only with very minute setae in punctures; epipleural edge fine, ending at rounded external apical angle of elytra; epipleura fine, densely setose, apical border narrowly membraneous, with a very fine fringe of microtrichomes (visible at 100× magnification).

ABDOMEN. Ventral surface dull, coarsely and densely punctate, metasternum sparsely covered with setae on disc, glabrous on sides; metacoxa glabrous, with a few short setae laterally, posterior margin weakly convex; abdominal sternites finely and unevenly densely punctuate, nearly glabrous, with a transverse row of coarse punctures, each bearing a robust, short seta. Mesosternum between mesocoxae half as wide as slender mesofemur. Ratio of length of metepisternum/metacoxa: 1/1.68. Pygidium strongly convex and dull, coarsely and sparsely but superficially punctate, without smooth midline, with a few short setae beside apical margin.

LEGS. Slender; femora with two longitudinal rows of setae, finely and sparsely punctate between rows; metafemur dull, anterior margin acute, behind anterior edge without serrated line, setae of anterior longitudinal row nearly completely lacking, posterior margin in apical half ventrally smooth and slightly widened, posterior margin dorsally distinctly serrated, on its basal portion with a few short setae. Metatibia slender and long, widest at apex, ratio of width/length: 1/4.25, sharply carinate dorsally, with two groups of spines, basal group just before middle, apical group at three quarters of metatibial length, basally with a few robust but single setae; lateral face longitudinally convex, very finely, superficially and sparsely punctate, subdorsal longitudinal carina on lateral face present on about two thirds of metatibial length; ventral edge finely serrated, with three robust, nearly equidistant setae; medial face smooth, apex moderately concavely sinuate interiorly near tarsal articulation. Tarsomeres ventrally with sparse, short setae, laterally not carinate, without punctures; metatarsomeres ventrally glabrous, with a strongly serrated ridge ventrally and a sharp subventral carina immediately beside it; first metatarsomere distinctly longer than following two tarsomeres combined and longer than dorsal tibial spur. Protibia long, bidentate; anterior claws symmetrical, basal tooth of inner claw sharply truncate at apex.

MALE GENITALIA. Aedeagus: Fig. 3 A–C.

Female

Unknown.

Figures

Fig. 3. A–D. Neoserica (s. lat.) reuteri sp. nov., holotype, ♂. E–H. Oxyserica goertzae sp. nov., holotype, ♂. I–M. Selaserica hosanagarana sp. nov., holotype, ♂. A, E, I. Aedeagus, left side lateral view. C, G, L. Aedeagus, right side lateral view. B, F, J–K. Parameres, dorsal view. D, H, M. Habitus. Scale bars: 0.5 mm. Habitus not to scale.