Serica (Serica) fansipan Ahrens, Zhao, Pham & Liu, 2024

Ahrens, Dirk, Zhao, Ming-Zhi, Pham, Phu Van & Liu, Wan-Gang, 2024, Taxonomic updates on Pachyserica Brenske, 1898 and Serica MacLeay, 1819 reveal 38 new species and new challenges of Sericini systematics regarding DNA barcodes and genus-level diagnostic key characters (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Sericinae), Zootaxa 5491 (1), pp. 1-89 : 9-10

Serica (Serica) fansipan Ahrens, Zhao, Pham & Liu , new species

Fig. 2A–E

Type material examined. Holotype ♂ “ Mt. Fansipan Sapa Lao Cai N. Vietnam 15.IV.2003 T. Endo / Ex. coll. Takeshi Matsumoto (formerly Itoh) via coll. D. Ahrens / Asia Sericini 1097 spec.” ( ZFMK).

Description of holotype. Length: 8.8 mm, length of elytra: 6.8 mm, width: 4.5 mm. Body oblong, reddish brown, head and disc of pronotum darker, antenna and legs yellowish to reddish brown, on elytra with indistinct, more or less large, darker spots, dorsal surface dull; elytra with sparse, moderately long, adpressed white setae, except on head and lateral margins of pronotum and elytra otherwise glabrous.

Labroclypeus as wide as long, widest at base, lateral weakly convex and convergent anteriorly, anterior angles blunt, anterior margin deeply and widely emarginate medially, lateral margins weakly reflexed, anterior margin strongly reflexed; surface flat, slightly transversely excavate anteriorly, moderately shiny, finely and densely punctate, with some short and very superficial transverse wrinkles, with a few long, erect setae behind anterior margin; frontoclypeal suture indistinctly incised, flat and straight; smooth area anterior to eye moderately large and flat, about as wide as long; ocular canthus long and very slender (1/4 of ocular diameter), smooth, with one short terminal seta. Frons flat, entirely with dull toment; surface with fine and sparse punctures, with long, erect setae on entire disc. Eyes large, ratio diameter/interocular width: 0.89. Antennal club missing in holotype. Mentum weakly elevated, anteriorly flattened. Labrum transverse, short, moderately produced, moderately emarginate medially.

Pronotum transverse, twice as wide as long, widest at basal third, lateral margins convex and convergent anteriorly and posteriorly, anterior angles very weakly produced, convex, posterior angles blunt, weakly rounded at tip; anterior margin medially with a complete, broad, but indistinct marginal line, strongly convexly produced medially; surface densely and finely punctate, with a few very fine, white setae on lateral disc, otherwise only with minute setae in punctures; anterior and lateral margins with long and moderately dense setae; hypomeron not carinate at base. Scutellum slender and long, partly shiny, triangular, finely and densely punctate.

Elytra oblong, widest at apical third, striae weakly impressed, finely and densely punctate, intervals slightly convex, with fine, moderately dense punctures, dark spots completely smooth; intervals with sparse, fine, short, white setae, odd intervals with a few, single, long setae; epipleural edge fine, ending at moderately curved external apical angle of elytra, epipleura densely setose, apical border chitinous, without membranous rim of fine microtrichomes (magnification 100x).

Ventral surface dull, finely and not densely punctate, moderately densely setose, metacoxa glabrous, with a few long setae only laterally; abdominal sternites finely and densely punctate, with a transverse row of coarse punctures, each bearing a short seta; penultimate abdominal sternite mesally transversely and convexly elevated. Mesosternum between mesocoxae half as wide as the slender mesofemur. Ratio of length of metepisternum/metacoxa: 1/1.17. Pygidium strongly convex and dull, finely and densely punctate, smooth midline lacking, with moderately dense, long setae.

Legs slender; femora with two longitudinal rows of setae, coarsely and not densely punctate between the rows, with robust setae on basal half; metafemur shiny, anterior margin acute, without a continuously serrated line behind anterior margin, ventral posterior margin serrated in apical half and not widened, dorsal posterior margin completely serrated, in basal half with a few long setae which are half as long as width of metafemur. Metatibia slender and long, widest at apex, ratio of width/length: 1/4.6; dorsal margin sharply carinate, with two groups of spines, basal group shortly before middle, apical group at three quarters of metatibial length, basally with a few single, robust setae; lateral face longitudinally concave, indistinctly, sparsely and superficially punctate; ventral margin serrated, with two very widely separated short but robust setae; medial face with a shallow longitudinal groove medially, sparsely punctate and glabrous; apex interiorly near tarsal articulation distinctly but bluntly truncate. Tarsomeres ventrally with sparse, very minute setae, dorsally impunctate and without wrinkles; metatarsomeres laterally and dorsally carinate, with a strongly serrated ridge ventrally, ventrally glabrous; first metatarsomere distinctly shorter than following two tarsomeres combined but twice as long as dorsal tibial spur. Protibia moderately long, bidentate, external margin with a few small teeth in base half; anterior claws asymmetrical, basal tooth of inner claw small and lobiform, basal tooth of external claw evenly narrowed towards apex and sharply pointed.

Aedeagus: Fig. 2A–C . Habitus: Fig. 2D–E . Female unknown.

Diagnosis. Serica fansipan new species is in shape of male genitalia similar to S. becvari Ahrens, 2005 . Serica fansipan new species differs from the latter by the distinctly shorter right paramere, which has at lateral base a narrow, spiniform process; the left paramere is slightly wider in basal half and more abruptly bent internally at apex.

Etymology. The name of this new species (noun in apposition) is derived from its type locality, the Fansipan Mountain ( Vietnam).

Figures

FIGURE 2. A–E: Serica fansipan new species (holotype); F–K: S. lushui new species (holotype); A, H: aedeagus, left side lateral view; C, K: aedeagus, right side lateral view; B, I: parameres, dorsal view; J: aedeagus, dorsal view; D, F: habitus, dorsal view; E, G: habitus, lateral view. Scale bar: 0.5 mm. Habitus images not to scale.