Serica (T.) hailuogou 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 : 70

Serica (T.) hailuogou Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu , new species

Figures 18E–H , 25

Type material examined. Holotype: ♂ “ Hailuogou, Luding , Sichuan, 6.VIII.2004, 1500-1600m, leg. Zhang Yong / LW-178/ 1148 Asia Sericini spec. ” ( IZAS) . Paratype: 1 ♂ “ Hailuogou, Luding , Sichuan, 9.VIII.2004, leg. Wan Xia, Zhang Yong/ LW-190” ( IZAS) .

Description of the holotype. Length: 8.0 mm, length of elytra: 6.0 mm, width: 4.4 mm. Body oval, dark reddish brown, dull, elytra with yellow spots, ventral surface and legs reddish brown, antenna yellow; dorsal surface almost glabrous except some single and short, white setae on pronotum and elytra.

Labroclypeus subtrapezoidal, little wider than long, widest at base, lateral margins almost straight and weakly convergent anteriorly; anterior angles moderately rounded; anterior margin widely but moderately deeply emarginate medially; margins moderately reflexed; surface weakly convex and shiny, finely and densely punctate, with numerous fine and erect setae; frontoclypeal suture finely incised, weakly bent medially; smooth area anterior to eye small and convex, 1.5 times as wide as long; ocular canthus short and slender (1/5 of ocular diameter), impunctate, with a short terminal seta. Frons completely dull and flat, with fine and dense punctures, with numerous fine and short, erect setae. Eyes small, ratio diameter/ interocular width: 0.5. Antenna with 10 antennomeres; club with three antennomeres, as long as remaining antennomeres combined and straight. Mentum strongly elevated anteriorly, flattened anteriorly. Labrum moderately produced along middle, narrowly and deeply emarginate medially.

Pronotum wide and subtrapezoidal, widest shortly before base, lateral margins evenly convex and convergent anteriorly; anterior angles weakly produced, sharp; posterior angles strongly rounded; anterior margin straight, marginal line fine but complete; surface irregularly, densely and finely punctate, with minute setae in punctures, with a few pale adpressed setae on disc; lateral margins sparsely setose; hypomeron carinate at base, not produced ventrally. Scutellum large, triangular, finely and densely punctate, with minute setae in punctures, on basal midline almost punctate.

Elytra oval, widest at posterior third, striae finely impressed, finely and densely punctate; intervals flat, with fine, sparse punctures; with a few single, short, white setae on odd 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, sparsely setose, widely glabrous; 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/ 1.34. Abdominal sternites with a transverse row of coarse punctures, each bearing a long seta, otherwise glabrous; penultimate sternite at posterior margin with a wide membraneous rim being one third as long as sternite. Pygidium weakly convex and dull, dark, finely and sparsely punctate, with sparse, short 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: 1/4.3; dorsal margin sharply carinate, with two groups of spines, basal group at middle, apical group at three quarters of metatibial length, basally with a few single, robust setae; external face densely and coarsely but superficially punctate, without longitudinal wrinkles; ventral margin serrated, with two widely separated robust setae; medial face finely sparsely punctate, glabrous; apex interiorly near tarsal articulation bluntly truncate. Tarsomeres ventrally with sparse, minute setae, dorsally finely and moderately densely punctate. Metatarsomeres ventrally glabrous, laterally and dorsally weakly carinate, with a strongly serrated ridge ventrally; first metatarsomere little shorter than following two tarsomeres combined and distinctly longer than dorsal tibial spur. Protibia moderately long, bidentate, external margin smooth but bluntly extended at middle; anterior claws asymmetrical, basal tooth of inner claw widened and sharply pointed at apex.

Aedeagus: Fig. 18E–G . Habitus: Fig. 18H . Female unknown.

Diagnosis. Serica hailuogou Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu , new species differs from Serica huangjing Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu , new species by the strongly curved (dorsal view) dorsal lobe of the right paramere, and the preapically abrubtly bent dorsal lobe of the left paramere.

Etymology. The species is named (noun in apposition) after its type locality, Hailuogou.

Variation. The paratype has the same size as the holotype.

Figures

FIGURE 18. A–D: Serica huangjing Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species (holotype); E–H: S. hailuogou 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 25. Distribution of Nipponoserica daqiao Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species, Serica hailougou Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species, S. huangjing Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species, S. kuankuoshuiensis Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species, S. limbourgi Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species, S. paralongipes Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species, S. pseudogracilipes Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species, S. smetanai Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species, S. taishun Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species, S. tianpingshanensis Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species.