Neoserica (s.l.) laocaiana Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, 2014

Ahrens, Dirk, Liu, Wangang, Fabrizi, Silvia, Bai, Ming & Yang, Xing-Ke, 2014, A revision of the species of the Neoserica (sensu lato) vulpes group (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Sericini), Journal of Natural History 49 (17), pp. 1073-1130 : 1112-1113

Neoserica (s.l.) laocaiana Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu sp. nov.

( Figures 6A–D , 11 )

Type material examined

Holotype. ♂ ‘N. Vietnam: Lao Cai Prov. 23 km W. of Sa Pa 2/VII/1997 ca. 1600 m collr. C. L. Li /221 Sericini Asia spec.’ ( ZFMK) . Paratypes: 2 ♂♂ ‘N. Vietnam: Lao Cai Prov. 23 km W of Sa Pa 2/VII/1997 ca. 1600 m collr. C.L. Li’ ( ZFMK) .

Description

Length. 8.2 mm, length of elytra: 5.7 mm, width: 4.4 mm. Body oblong, light reddish brown, antenna yellow, dorsal surface dull and nearly glabrous except a few long erect setae on elytra.

Labroclypeus subtrapezoidal, widest at base, lateral margins weakly convex and moderately convergent to strongly convex anterior angles, lateral border and ocular canthus producing a distinct blunt angle, margins strongly reflexed, anterior margin deeply sinuate medially; surface strongly convex medially and shiny, finely and densely irregularly punctate, distance between punctures less than their diameter, punctures partly fused, with a few long erect setae; frontoclypeal suture very feebly incised and medially weakly angled; smooth area in front of eye short and approximately 1.5 times as wide as long; ocular canthus long and slender, impunctate, with two moderately long single terminal setae. Frons dull, with fine and dense punctures, with numerous long setae in larger punctures on disc and beside eyes. Eyes large, ratio of diameter/interocular width: 0.7. Antenna composed of 10 antennomeres; club with four antennomeres, nearly 1.7 times as long as remaining antennomeres combined, strongly reflexed. Mentum convexly elevated anteriorly.

Pronotum moderately wide, widest at middle, lateral margins evenly and weakly convex, in anterior third strongly narrowed anteriorly, in posterior half only weakly narrowed, anterior angles moderately produced and moderately acute, posterior angles blunt and not rounded at tip, anterior margin convexly produced medially, broad marginal line widely interrupted medially, basal margin without marginal line; surface with moderately dense and fine punctures, with minute setae only; anterior and lateral borders setose; hypomeron distinctly carinate at base. Scutellum narrow and long, sharp at apex, with fine and moderately dense punctures, on apex smooth, punctures with minute setae.

Elytra oblong, widest in posterior third, striae distinctly impressed, finely and densely punctate, intervals weakly convex and not densely punctate with punctures except in the second one concentrated along the striae, odd intervals with a few single, fine, erect setae; epipleural edge robust, ending at strongly curved external apical angle of elytra, epipleura densely setose, apical border membranous, with short microtrichomes.

Ventral surface dull, with large and dense punctures, sparsely and shortly setose, setae partly adpressed, metacoxa glabrous, with fine setae laterally, its apical margin straight, posterior lateral angle nearly right-angled; each abdominal sternite with indistinct transversal row of coarse punctures each bearing a short seta between fine and moderately dense punctation. Mesosternum between mesocoxae nearly half as wide as mesofemur, with irregularly scattered, fine setae. Ratio of length of metepisternum/metacoxa: 1/1.44. Pygidium at apex strongly convex, finely and moderately densely punctate, without smooth midline, punctures with minute setae, with numerous longer setae beside apical margin and a few on the disc.

Legs slender; femora with two longitudinal rows of setae, finely and moderately densely punctate; metafemur ventrally dull, anterior margin sharply carinate, without a submarginal serrated line, posterior margin straight, with a few strong setae medially, only weakly widened externally in apical half and not serrated ventrally in distal half, finely serrated dorsally, with dense, short setae. Metatibia slender and long, widest at apex, ratio width/length: 1/3.7, dorsal margin sharply carinate, with two groups of spines, basal group of spines shortly before half of metatibial length, apical one at about three quarters of metatibial length, basally with a few single fine spines; external face longitudinally convex, with coarse and dense punctures each bearing a short adjacent seta; ventral margin finely serrated, with four fine, equidistant spines; medial face impunctate, apex concavely truncate interiorly near tarsal articulation. Tarsomeres partly finely punctate dorsally, with a few long setae, with sparse, short setae ventrally; metatarsomeres dorsally impunctate, without longitudinal impressions, with a strongly serrated ridge ventrally and a fine longitudinal carina immediately beside it; first metatarsomere slightly shorter than following two tarsomeres combined and slightly longer than dorsal tibial spur. Protibia long, bidentate, protarsal claws symmetrical, basal tooth of inner protarsal claw bluntly truncate apically.

Aedeagus. Figure 6A–C . Female unknown.

Diagnosis

The new species differs from the other so far known species of the N. vulpes group by the laterally produced and carinate ventral process of phallobase which bears no hooks; parameres as in N. ganhaiziana sp. nov. more or less dorsoventrally flattened, but together they are distinctly wider ( Figure 6B ).

Etymology

The new species is named according its occurrence in Lao Cai province, Vietnam (Latin adjective in the nominative singular).

Variation

Length. 8.2–8.3 mm, length of elytra: 5.7–6.2 mm, width: 4.4–4.8 mm.

Figures

Figure 6. A–D: Neoserica laocaiana Ahrens, Liu & Fabrizi sp. nov. (holotype), E–H: N. pseudovulpes Ahrens, Liu & Fabrizi sp. nov. (holotype), I–L: N. usta Ahrens, Liu & Fabrizi sp. nov. (holotype). A, E, I: aedeagus, left side lateral view; C, G, K: aedeagus, right side lateral view; B, F, J: parameres, dorsal view; D, H, L: habitus (not to scale). Scale: 0.5 mm.

Figure 11. Distribution of the species of the Neoserica (s.l.) vulpes group: N. baoshana, N. biuncinata, N. dundai, N. ganhaiziana, N. laocaiana, N. leiboensis, N. ningyuanensis, N. rubellula, N. shinkaisiensis, N. sichuanica, N. weishanensis, N. xiaguanensis and N. yangjiapingensis.