Neoserica (s. str.) taibaiensis Liu & Ahrens, 2015

Liu, Wan-Gang, Bai, Ming, Yang, Xing-Ke & Ahrens, Dirk, 2015, New species and records of the Neoserica (sensu stricto) group (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Sericini), Journal of Natural History 49 (39), pp. 2379-2395 : 2386-2389

Neoserica (s. str.) taibaiensis Liu & Ahrens , sp. nov.

( Figure 2A–D )

Type material examined

Holotype: ♂ ‘ Haopingsi Temple, Taibaishan, Shaanxi, 10.V.1983, 1200 m, leg. Mt. Taibaishan Insect Collecting group’ ( NWAFU) . Paratype: 1 ♂ ‘ Haoping Temple, Mts. Taibaishan , Shaanxi, 18.V.1982 ’ ( ZFMK) .

Description

Length: 6.3 mm; length of elytra: 4.9 mm; width: 3.5 mm. Body oval, dark brown, antenna yellowish brown, elytra with irregular reddish spots, legs and pronotal base reddish brown, dorsal surface with dense, short, yellow setae which incline posteriorly, head and pronotum with long erect setae inclined anteriad.

Labroclypeus subrectangular, widest at middle, lateral margins straight and subparallel, anterior angles broadly rounded, lateral border and ocular canthus producing a distinct obtuse angle, anterior margin weakly sinuate medially and weakly reflexed, surface moderately convex weakly and moderately shiny, coarsely and very densely punctate, with several long erect setae; frontoclypeal suture slightly impressed and moderately curved, smooth area anterior to eye twice as wide as long; ocular canthus moderately long and narrow, finely and densely punctate, with three terminal setae. Frons densely punctate, with mixed small and large punctures, finely and densely setose, with moderately dense, long erect setae in the larger punctures. Eyes large, ratio of diameter/interocular width: 0.61. Antenna with 10 antennomeres; club with four antennomeres, slightly longer than remaining antennomeres combined, first joint of club subequal to club length. Mentum elevated and flattened anteriorly.

Pronotum moderately wide, widest just before middle, lateral margins in basal half subparallel and slightly concave, strongly curved and convergent in anterior third, anterior angles not produced and strongly rounded, nearly obsolete, posterior angles blunt, anterior margin nearly straight, with distinct and fine marginal line, base without marginal line; surface with dense and moderately coarse punctures each bearing a short fine seta, interspersed with coarse punctures each bearing a long erect seta slightly inclined anteriad; anterior and lateral borders sparsely setose; hypomeron carinate, basal margin of hypomeron moderately produced ventrally. Scutellum subtriangular, apex moderately rounded, with fine, dense punctures and fine setae.

Elytra oblong, widest at middle, striae moderately impressed, with fine and dense punctures, intervals weakly convex, with fine, dense punctures and fine setae, some darker spots glabrous and smooth, with only single coarse punctures bearing a long erect seta (partly abraded in the holotype); epipleural edge very fine, ending widely before strongly rounded external apical angle of elytra, epipleura densely setose, apical border chitinous, without short microtrichomes.

Ventral surface dull, with large, dense punctures and dense, short adpressed setae, metacoxa with similar punctation and pilosity and with a few robust setae laterally. Abdominal sternites finely and densely punctate, with fine, adpressed setae in punctures, each sternite with transverse row of coarse punctures each bearing a long, robust seta. Mesosternum between mesocoxae as wide as mesofemur, with a few longer setae. Ratio of length of metepisternum/metacoxa: 1/1.41. Pygidium weakly convex, with fine and dense punctures and fine short setae, with a few longer setae on apical half, without smooth midline.

Legs moderately slender and slightly shiny, femora with fine and dense punctures, densely setose; anterior edge of metafemur acute lacking an adjacent serrated line, posterior margin weakly convex, with a few fine setae medially, weakly widened ventrally in apical half but not serrate, serrate dorsally. Metatibia moderately wide, weakly convexly widened at middle, ratio width/length: 1/3.9, dorsally sharply carinate, beside dorsal margin with a sharp, serrated carina being convergent with the dorsal margin from base to apex, groups of spines reduced to single spine along the carina; lateral face longitudinally convex, with dense, coarse punctures and short, dense setae, ventral edge serrate, with five nearly equidistant spines; medial face impunctate and smooth, apex sharply truncate interiorly near tarsal articulation. Tarsomeres glabrous and finely punctate dorsally, with sparse, short setae ventrally; metatarsomeres with strong longitudinal impressions dorsally and a strongly serrated ridge ventrally, with a distinct longitudinal carina laterally, first metatarsomere as long as following two tarsomeres combined and almost twice as long as dorsal tibial spur. Protibia short, bidentate, protarsal claws symmetrical.

Aedeagus

Figure 2A–C .

Diagnosis

The new species differs from the externally similar Neoserica ursina ( Brenske 1894) and N. fukiensis ( Frey, 1972) in having the left paramere bifid. From other taxa with bifid left parameres, it differs distinctly in the strongly developed basal lobe of right paramere ( Figure 2B ) and, in part, the narrow and smaller body.

Etymology

The new species is named after the type locality, Taibai.

Figures

Figure 2. (A-D) Neoserica (s. str.) taibaiensis Liu & Ahrens sp. nov. (holotype); (E-H) Neoserica (s. str.) yongkangensis Liu & Ahrens sp. nov. (holotype). (A, E) Aedeagus, left side lateral view; (C, G) aedeagus, right side lateral view; (B, F) parameres, dorsal view; (D, H) habitus. Scale: 0.5 mm.