Microserica squamulata Moser 1915, comb. n.
Creators: name: Ahrens, Dirk
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2004
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Melolonthidae
Microserica
Microserica squamulata

description: Microserica squamulata (Moser, 1915) comb. n. (Figs 4–6)
Neoserica squamulata Moser, 1915: 378.
Type material examined: Lectotype (here designated): ɗ “ Siam Hinlap Januar H. Fruhstorfer/ Neoserica squamulata Type ɗ Mos.” (ZMHB). Paralectotypes: 1 Ψ “ Siam Hinlap Januar H. Fruhstorfer” (ZMHB), 1 Ψ “ Siam Muok­Lek 1000’ Januar H. Fruhstorfer/ Neoserica squamulata Type Ψ Mos.” (ZMHB), 1 Ψ “ Siam Muok­Lek 1000’ Januar H. Fruhstorfer” (ZMHB).
(llpphb — left lateral process of phallobase; phb — phallobase; rpm — right paramere).
Lectotype­Redescription. Length: 7.3 mm, length of elytra: 5.4 mm, width: 4.7 mm. Body oval, reddish dark brown, elytra yellowish, dorsal surface dull except shiny labroclypeus, almost evenly and moderately densely covered with short scale­like setae, elytra additionally with sparse, long and fine, erect setae interspersed.
Labroclypeus subtrapezoidal and moderately short, widest at base, lateral margins straight and strongly convergent anteriorly, anterior angles broadly rounded, lateral border and ocular canthus produced into a distinct obtuse angle, anterior and lateral margins moderately reflexed, anterior margin very weakly sinuate medially; surface weakly convex medially and shiny, finely and very densely punctate, with numerous long, erect setae; frontoclypeal suture indistinctly impressed and weakly curved; smooth area in front of eye three times wider than long; ocular canthus short and triangular, almost impunctate, with a short single terminal seta. Frons with fine and dense punctures, with adpressed white scale­like short setae in the punctures, laterally with coarse punctures interspersed bearing each a long erect seta. Eyes moderately large, ratio of diameter/ interocular width: 0.58. Antenna yellow, with ten antennomeres; club with four antennomeres equal in length, club as long as than the remaining antennomeres combined. Mentum very weakly convexly elevated in anterior third.
Pronotum moderately wide, widest shortly before base, lateral margins almost evenly curved and weakly convergent anteriorly, anterior angles distinctly produced and acute, posterior angles moderately rounded, anterior margin convexly produced medially, with a distinct and fine marginal line, basal margin without marginal line, surface with dense and fine punctures, along the midline and on disc partly punctures less dense, with adpressed white scale­like short setae in the punctures, anterior and lateral borders setaceous; hypomeron carinate, its basal margin not produced ventrally. Scutellum long and narrow, apex weakly rounded, with fine and dense punctures, smooth along midline, minute scales present in the punctures.
Elytra short oval, widest in posterior third, striae distinctly impressed and finely densely punctate, odd intervals strongly convex and finely punctate laterally only, even intervals moderately convex and densely, almost evenly finely punctate, throughout with fine scales in the punctures, odd intervals with single coarse punctures bearing each a strong erect seta, interior apical angle of elytron with a strong seta, impunctate portions on odd intervals dark, before apex with a dark glabrous spot; epipleural edge robust but convex, ending at the strongly convex external apical angle of elytra, epipleura densely setaceous, apical border broadly membraneous, with a rim of short microtrichomes.
Ventral surface dull, with fine and dense punctures, with dense short setae, setae adpressed, metacoxa minutely setose, laterally with robust adpressed setae; each abdominal sternite with indistinct transversal row of coarse and dense punctures, sternite bearing short strong setae between fine and dense punctation, all sternites bearing minute white setae. Mesosternum between mesocoxae almost as wide as mesofemur. Ratio of length of metepisternum/ metacoxa: 1/ 1.48. Pygidium little wider than long, moderately convex, with fine and dense punctures bearing fine white setae, on apical half with numerous robust punctures bearing robust and erect yellowish setae, without smooth midline.
Legs moderately slender; femora on ventral surface dull, finely and moderately densely punctate, glabrous, with two longitudinal rows of setae; anterior edge of metafemur acute, with a robust adjacent continuously serrated line, posterior margin weakly convex and glabrous, ventrally weakly widened in apical half but not serrate, posterior margin dorsally not serrate. Metatibia moderately slender and long, dorsal and ventral margin almost subparallel, ratio width/ length: 1/ 3.7, dorsally longitudinally convex, with two groups of spines, the basal group at one third, apical one at three quarters of metatibial length, basally with a few single spines in the punctures; lateral face longitudinally convex, with dense and moderately coarse punctures, along the middle of lateral face narrowly impunctate, punctures with minute setae; ventral edge sharp and serrated, with four strong and long, equally spaced spines, medial face impunctate and smooth, apex interiorly (near tarsal articulation) distinctly truncate. Tarsomeres dorsally glabrous and impunctate, ventrally with a very few sparse, short setae; metatarsomeres ventrally with a single strongly serrated carina, a subventral carina lacking, first metatarsomere as long as the following two tarsomeres combined and almost twice as long as the upper tibial spur. Protibia short, bidentate, protarsal claws symmetrical.
Aedeagus: Figs 4–6.
Variability. Length: 7.4–8.7 mm, length of elytra: 5.7–6.1 mm, width: 4.9–5.3 mm. Ψ: Antennal club with three antennomeres and as long as the remaining antennomeres combined; pygidium apically strongly convex.
Remarks. Moser (1915) mentioned in the original description only “ Siam (Hinlap)” as the type locality. Because he also labelled one female specimen from Muok­Lek with “ Neoserica squamulata Type Ψ Mos.”, it must be concluded, that the original description was based on these specimens, too. Moser (1915), however, did not note the number of examined specimens in the original description. Consequently, it is necessary to fix a lectotype from the syntype series of the Moser collection.
description: Published as part of Ahrens, Dirk, 2004, Revision of the Microserica lineata Moser, 1915 ­ group (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Sericini), pp. 1-14 in Zootaxa 667 on pages 5-7, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.158612