Gynaecoserica namtamaiensis, Ahrens & Fabrizi, 2009

Ahrens, Dirk & Fabrizi, Silvia, 2009, A review of the genus Gynaecoserica Brenske, 1896 (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Sericini), Journal of Natural History 43 (25 - 26), pp. 1505-1584 : 1569-1570

Gynaecoserica namtamaiensis sp. nov.

( Figures 4P–R , 10A )

Type material examined

Holotype. Ƌ “ Upper Burma: Nam Tamai Valley. 25.vii.1938 R. Kaulback B.M. 1938-741./ Alt. 3.000 ft. Lat. N. 27°42¢, Long. E. 97°54¢/ 484 Sericini Asia spec.” ( BMNH) . Paratypes. 1 Ƌ – same data as holotype ( CA) .

Description

Length 4.4 mm, length of elytra 3.2 mm, width 2.7 mm. Body oblong, dark to reddish brown, antenna yellowish brown, dorsal surface except head dull, sparsely setose.

Labroclypeus subrectangular, widest at base, lateral margins in basal portion weakly curved and convergent anteriorly, in distal half strongly curved and convergent to the strongly rounded anterior angles, lateral border and ocular canthus producing a distinct blunt angle, margins weakly reflexed, anterior margin very shallowly sinuate medially; surface weakly convex medially and moderately shiny, finely and very densely punctate, distance between punctures less than their diameter, with a few coarser punctures behind anterior margin bearing long, erect setae; frontoclypeal suture indistinctly incised, medially moderately curved; smooth area in front of eye approximately as wide as long; ocular canthus short and moderately slender, finely and densely punctate, with a fine terminal seta. Frons completely shiny, with fine and irregularly dense punctures, beside eyes and behind frontoclypeal suture with a few erect setae. Eyes moderately large, ratio of diameter: interocular width 0.6. Antenna yellow, with 10 antennomeres, club with six antennomeres and a little longer than the remaining antennomeres. Mentum weakly elevated and flattened anteriorly.

Pronotum widest shortly before base, lateral margins weakly uniformly curved and convergent anteriorly, in anterior half more strongly convergent anteriorly, towards the blunt posterior angles slightly narrowed, anterior angles distinctly produced and sharply pointed, anterior margin convexly produced medially, with a fine marginal line, basal margin without marginal line; surface with moderately dense and fine shallow punctures, each puncture bears a minute seta; anterior and lateral borders thinly setaceous; hypomeron distinctly margined at base but not ventrally produced. Scutellum long and narrow, triangular, with a few fine punctures only at sides, almost completely smooth, microscopic setae present in the punctures.

Elytra oblong, widest in apical third, striae indistinctly impressed and finely densely punctate, intervals almost flat, with fine, sparsely scattered punctures concentrated along the striae, punctures with microscopic setae only, but odd intervals with single white erect setae; interior apical angle of elytra with a robust seta; epipleural edge fine ending at the strongly curved external apical angle of elytra, epipleura densely setaceous, apical border without short microtrichomes.

Ventral surface dull, with fine and moderately dense punctures, sparsely setose, metacoxa only laterally with a few strong adjacent setae; each abdominal sternite with indistinct transverse row of coarse punctures bearing short setae between fine, dense punctation, penultimate sternite apically without a shiny smooth sclerotized border, last sternite medially almost half as long as penultimate one. Mesosternum between mesocoxae as wide as mesofemur, with irregularly scattered very strong setae. Ratio of length of metepisternum: metacoxa 1: 1.64. Pygidium strongly convex, dull, coarsely but moderately densely punctate, with a narrow smooth midline and with numerous erect long and short setae.

Legs slender and moderately long; femora dull, with two longitudinal rows of setae, finely and sparsely punctate; metafemur shiny and moderately densely punctate, sharply margined anteriorly and without a submarginal serrate line, posterior margin weakly convex and glabrous, its external part only weakly widened in apical half and not serrate, internally very finely serrate, with a few long setae. Metatibia slender and moderately long, uniformly widened toward apex, ratio width: length: 1: 3.6, dorsally moderately edged, with two groups of spines, basal one at onethird, apical one at three-quarters of metatibial length, basally with a few single, fine spines in the punctures; external face longitudinally convex, with moderately dense and coarse punctures, glabrous; ventrally edged and serrate, with three strong equidistant spines, internal face finely sparsely punctate and smooth, apex interiorly near tarsal articulation sharply and deeply truncate. Tarsomeres dorsally glabrous and impunctate, ventrally with sparse, short setae; metatarsomeres ventrally with a strongly serrate ridge, beside which is a fine longitudinal carina, first metatarsomere a little shorter than the following two tarsomeres combined and one-third longer than the upper tibial spur. Protibia moderately long, bidentate, protarsal claws symmetrical.

Aedeagus shown in Figure 4 (P–R).

Variation

Length 4.4–4.5 mm, length of elytra 3.1–3.2 mm, width 2.6–2.7 mm. Female unknown.

Diagnosis

Gynaecoserica namtamaiensis sp. nov. is similar in external shape to G. schima sp. nov.; it may be differentiated by the shape of parameres being curved dorsally and lacking basal extensions.

Etymology

Named according to the Nam Tamai Valley where the type specimens were collected .

Figures

Figure 4. (A–C) Gynaecoserica lubosi sp. nov. (holotype), (D–F) G. luteata sp. nov. (holotype), (G–I) G. maekasana sp. nov. (holotype), (J–L) G. maymyoensis sp. nov. (holotype), (M–O) G. nahangensis sp. nov. (holotype), (P–R) G. namtamaiensis sp. nov. (holotype). (A, D, G, J, M, P) Aedeagus, left side lateral view; (C, F, I, L, O, R) aedeagus, left side lateral view; (B, E, H, K, N, Q) parameres, dorsal view. Scale bars 0.5 mm.

Figure 10. Distribution of Gynaecoserica species (A, upper panel; B, lower panel). “?” indicates the rather imprecise type locality (Tenasserim) of G. jelineki sp. nov. in Myanmar.