Gastroserica kucerai, Ahrens, Dirk & Pacholátko, Petr, 2003

Ahrens, Dirk & Pacholátko, Petr, 2003, New data on the distribution of species of Gastroserica Brenske, 1897, with descriptions of five new taxa from China and Laos (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Sericini), Zootaxa 342, pp. 1-18 : 2-3

Gastroserica kucerai sp. n. ( Figs 1–3 )

Type material: Holotypus: ɗ “ China ­ N. Sichuan Nanjiang 21.­ 23.5.2002 Lgt. E. Kučera” (CA). Paratypes: 2 ΨΨ “same data as holotype (CA), 1 ɗ “Suifu Szechuen China '22 DC Graham/ Loan from USNMNH 2023982” ( USNM), 2 ΨΨ “Suifu Szechuen April 1923 D.C. Graham/ Loan from USNMNH 2023982” ( USNM), 1 Ψ “Suifu 5.'25/ Szechuen China D.C. Graham/ Loan from USNMNH 2023982” ( USNM).

Description. Length: 6.9 mm, length of elytra: 5.0 mm, width: 3.9 mm. Body oval, reddish to dark brown, dorsal surface dull, densely covered with short setae and with moderately dense, longer, erect setae interspersed.

Labroclypeus subrectangular and short, widest before apex, lateral margins straight and strongly convergent toward base, anterior angles broadly rounded, lateral border and ocular canthus produced into a distinct obtuse angle, anterior margin strongly reflexed, straight; surface weakly convex medially and moderately shiny, very coarsely and sparsely punctate, with numerous long, erect setae; frontoclypeal suture distinctly impressed and weakly curved; smooth area in front of eye wider than long (1.5/1); ocular canthus moderately long and slender, finely and densely punctate, with a short single terminal seta. Frons with coarse dense punctures, with fine punctures irregularly interspersed, densely erectly setose. Eyes moderately large, ratio of diameter/ interocular width: 0.66. Antenna yellow, 10­segmented; club with four antennomeres equal in length, club a little longer than the remaining antennomeres combined. Mentum elevated and flattened anteriorly.

Pronotum long, widest at base, lateral margins weakly convergent anteriorly, in anterior third strongly convex, before posterior angles weakly sinuate, anterior angles not produced and strongly rounded, almost obsolete, posterior angles sharp and weakly produced outward, anterior margin almost straight, with a distinct and fine marginal line, basal margin without marginal line; surface with moderately dense and fine punctures, with numerous erect setae, which may be also bent backwards, and minute setae in punctures, with a shallow median impression behind the middle; anterior and lateral borders setaceous; basal margin of hypomeron strongly produced ventrally, before base distinctly transeversely sulcate. Scutellum narrow and long, apex weakly rounded, with fine and dense punctures, medially smooth, minute setae present in the punctures.

Elytra oblong, widest at middle, striae distinctly impressed and finely densely punctate, intervals weakly convex, with fine and sparse punctures that are almost concentrated along the striae, minutely setose in the punctures, odd intervals with single coarse punctures bearing strong erect setae, interior apical angle of elytra with a strong seta; epipleural edge moderately strong, ending at the strongly convex external apical angle of elytra, epipleura densely setaceous, apical border chitinous, without short microtrichomes.

Ventral surface dull, with large and dense punctures, with dense short setae, setae adpressed, metacoxa partly glabrous, laterally with fine adpressed setae; each abdominal sternite with indistinct transversal row of coarse punctures bearing short strong setae between fine and dense punctation, all sternites with fine, short setae. Mesosternum between mesocoxae almost as wide as mesofemur, with irregularly scattered strong setae. Ratio of length of metepisternum/ metacoxa: 1/ 1.78. Pygidium long, apically produced and strongly convex, with fine and dense punctures bearing fine setae and a few robust punctures bearing robust setae, without smooth midline.

Legs moderately slender and shiny; femora finely densely punctate and setose, with two longitudinal rows of setae; anterior edge of metafemur acute, lacking an adjacent serrated line, posterior margin weakly convex, with a few fine setae medially, ventrally weakly widened in apical half but not serrate, dorsally serrate, with short setae. Metatibia moderately broad and short, at middle convexly widened, ratio width/ length: 1/ 3.05, dorsally sharply edged, with two groups of spines, the basal group at one third, apical one at two third of metatibial length, basally with a few single spines in punctures; lateral face longitudinally convex, with dense and moderately coarse punctures, some of them longitudinally impressed; ventral edge serrated, with four strong and long, equally spaced spines, medial face not punctate and smooth, apex interiorly near tarsal articulation sharply truncate. Tarsomeres dorsally glaborus and finely punctate, ventrally with sparse, short setae; metatarsomeres dorsally with strong longitudinal impressions, ventrally with a strongly serrated ridge, laterally with a strong longitudinal carina, first metatarsomere as long as the following two tarsomeres combined and twice as long as the upper tibial spur. Protibia short, bidentate, protarsal claws symmetrical.

Aedeagus: Figs 1–3 .

Variability. Length: 6.9–7.8 mm, length of elytra: 5.0– 5.7 mm, width: 3.9–4.3 mm. In some paratypes pronotum medially dark with reddish lateral margin, sometimes elytra reddish brown with or without dark lateral margins. Ψ: Antennal club with four antennomeres and as long as the remaining antennomeres combined, 7th antennomere subequal in length with the other antennomeres of the club; eyes smaller than in male, ratio of diameter/ interocular width: 0.5; pygidium apically less convex.

Diagnosis. G. kucerai sp. n. is very similar to G. guizhouana Ahrens and G. sichuana Ahrens in genital shape and habitus. It may be differentiated from G. guizhouana by the wider dorsal lobe of the left paramere and a more slender right paramere, while it differs from G. sichuana by the presence of a long apohysis on the left side of the apical phallobase and by the simple dorsal lobe of left paramere.

Derivatio nominis. The new species is dedicated to one of its collectors E. Kučera.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 3: Gastroserica kucerai sp. n. (Holotype: China ­ N. Sichuan Nanjiang); 1, 3 ­ Aedeagus lateral view, 2 ­ Parameres dorsal view. Scale: 0.5 mm.