Serica dissimillima Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, 2022

Ahrens, Dirk, Fabrizi, Silvia, Bai, Ming & Liu, Wangang, 2022, Taxonomic revision of Serica MacLeay, 1819 (sensu lato) from China and adjacent areas (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae: Sericini), with updates on Nipponoserica Nomura, 1972, Zootaxa 5186 (1), pp. 1-83 : 48-49

Serica dissimillima Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu , new species

Figures 12A–D , 21

Type material examined. Holotype: ♂ “ Jinzhong Road, Jinxiu , Guangxi, 10.V.1999, 1100m, leg. Yang Xingke / 1140 Asia Sericini spec. ” ( IZAS) . Paratype: 1 ♂ “ Datianding, Xinyi , Guangdong, 31.V.1984 / 1704m, light trap, leg. Liao Subai / LW-100” ( ZFMK) .

Description of the holotype. Length: 9.5 mm, length of elytra: 7.4 mm, width: 5.1 mm. Body elongate, dark brown, dull, partly with greenish toment, legs reddish brown, elytra yellow brown with dark spots, in punctures lighter, antenna yellow; dorsal surface almost glabrous except a single and short, white adpressed setae on pronotum and elytra.

Labroclypeus subtrapezoidal, little wider than long, widest at base, lateral margins convex and weakly convergent, anterior angles moderately convex; anterior margin distinctly emarginate medially; margins moderately reflexed; surface flat and shiny, finely and densely punctate, with transverse wrinkles and a few fine erect setae anteriorly; frontoclypeal suture finely incised, almost straight and slightly elevated; smooth area anterior to eye small and convex, 1.2 times as wide as long; ocular canthus short and slender (1/4 of ocular diameter), impunctate, without terminal seta. Frons completely dull and flat, with fine and dense punctures, with moderately dense, fine and short setae being bent posteriorly on disc and beside eyes beside eyes. Eyes small, ratio diameter/ interocular width: 0.56. Antenna with 9 antennomeres; club with three antennomeres, 1.2 times as long as remaining antennomeres combined and straight. Mentum strongly elevated anteriorly, convex. Labrum moderately produced along middle, distinctly emarginate medially.

Pronotum wide but subtrapezoidal, widest shortly before base, lateral margins in anterior half weakly convex, almost straight and strongly convergent anteriorly, in basal half strongly convex; anterior angles moderately produced and sharp; posterior angles strongly rounded; anterior margin convexly produced medially, with robust, distinct marginal line; surface densely and finely punctate, with numerous short, white, scale-like, adpressed setae, partly only with minute setae; anterior and lateral margins almost glabrous; hypomeron not carinate at base. Scutellum moderately large, triangular, finely and densely punctate, median base impunctate, pilosity as in pronotum.

Elytra oval, widest at posterior third, striae finely impressed, finely and densely punctate; intervals flat, with fine, moderately dense punctures; with a few single, scale-like, short, white, adpressed setae on intervals; epipleural edge fine, ending at moderately curved external apical angle of elytra, epipleura densely setose; apical margin narrowly membraneous, with a fine rime of minute microtrichomes (magnification 100x).

Ventral surface dull, finely and densely punctate, densely setose; metacoxa glabrous, except a few short lateral setae. Mesosternum between mesocoxae half as wide as the slender mesofemur. Ratio of length of metepisternum/ metacoxa: 1/ 1.29. Abdominal sternites with a transverse row of coarse punctures, each bearing a long seta, otherwise glabrous except on the ultimate sternite being finely shortly setose; penultimate sternite at posterior margin with a wide membraneous rim being one quarter as long as sternite. Pygidium strongly convex but short, dull, dark, finely and densely punctate, smooth midline basally wide, with sparse, white, scale-like setae.

Legs slender, shiny, pro- and mesofemur dull; femora with two longitudinal rows of setae, finely and sparsely punctate between the rows. Metafemur shiny, anterior margin acute, without a continuously serrated line behind anterior edge; ventral posterior margin serrated and only weakly widened at apex, dorsal posterior margin completely serrated, in basal half with a few long setae which are half as long as metafemur width. Metatibia slender and long, widest shortly before apex, ratio of width/ length: 1/4.2, dorsally sharply carinate, with two groups of spines, basal group at one third, apical group at two thirds of metatibial length, basally with a few single, robust setae; external face sparsely and finely punctate, with robust longitudinal wrinkles; ventral margin serrated, with two widely separated robust setae; medial face glabrous, impunctate but wrinkled; apex interiorly near tarsal articulation bluntly truncate. Tarsomeres ventrally with sparse, minute setae, with a few fine punctures dorsally. Metatarsomeres ventrally glabrous, laterally and dorsally carinate, with a strongly serrated ridge ventrally; first metatarsomere as long as following two tarsomeres combined and almost twice as long as dorsal tibial spur. Protibia moderately long, bidentate, external margin smooth but bluntly extended at middle; protarsal claws lacking in holo- and paratype.

Aedeagus: Fig. 12A–C . Habitus: Fig. 12D . Female unknown.

Diagnosis. Serica dissimillima Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu , new species differs from all other Serica species by the particular shape of aedeagus, having the parameres strongly asymmetrically inserted and a dorsomedial apical apophysis in phallobase covering the base of the parameres (dorsal view). In general appearance it resemlbles strongly to the other Chinese Taiwanoserica species, however, the parameres are simple and not subdivided in dorsal and ventral lobe; also, the hypomeron of prothorax in not carinate, a character which is typical for Serica sensu stricto.

Etymology. The name of the new species is derrived from superlative of ‘ dissimile ’ (Latin), dissimilar, with reference to the dissimilar aedeagus morphology.

Variation. Length: 9.5–10.9 mm, length of elytra: 7.4–8.4 mm, width: 5.1–6.1 mm.

Figures

FIGURE 12. A–D: Serica dissimillima Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species (holotype); E–H: S. ziqingi Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species (holotype). A, E: Aedeagus, left side lateral view; C, G: Aedeagus, right side lateral view; B, F: Parameres, dorsal view; D, H: Habitus (not to scale). Scale: 0.5 mm.

FIGURE 21. Distribution of Serica adspersa Frey, 1972, S. daqiaoana Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species, S. dissimillima Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species, S. jiankouensis Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species, S. longwang Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species, S. mensonana Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species, S. solivaga Brenske, 1898, S. tianmushan Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species .