Selaserica fabriziae Ranasinghe & Eberle & Athukorala & Benjamin & Ahrens 2022, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Ranasinghe, Sasanka
name: Eberle, Jonas
name: Athukorala, Namal
name: Benjamin, Suresh P.
name: Ahrens, Dirk
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Melolonthidae
Selaserica
Selaserica fabriziae

description: Selaserica fabriziae sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 12205E52-C260-4128-9A23-4A7F6D9D2067
Figs 3A–D, 7A, 8A
Diagnosis
Selaserica fabriziae sp. nov. is in shape of aedeagus rather similar to Sel. sericea (Arrow, 1916), it differs by the shiny dorsal body surface and the shape of the parameres and phallobase: the median dorsoapical sinuation of the phallobase is much narrower (than in Sel. sericea), the parameres are bent dorsally at the apex (not bent in Sel. sericea).
Etymology
The new species is dedicated to Silvia Fabrizi, who passed away too early, in memory of her and for all her efforts for Sericini taxonomy (noun in genitive singular case). We will not forget you, Silvia!
Type material
Holotype SRI LANKA • ♂; “ X-SR0859, Sri Lanka, Galle District, Kottawa FR, 6.09812ºN, 80.31610ºE, 44m, 26-X-2019; Eberle, Bohacz & Ranasinghe, Black light ”; ZFMK.
Paratypes SRI LANKA • 1 ♂; “ X-SR1948, Sri Lanka, Galle District, Kottawa FR, 6.09712ºN, 80.31666ºE; 46m, 29-30-VI-2020, Benjamin & Ranasinghe, Black light ”; ZFMK • 1 ♂; “ X-SR1956, Sri Lanka, Galle District, Kottawa FR, 6.09712ºN, 80.31666ºE; 46m, 29-30-VI-2020, Benjamin & Ranasinghe, Black light ”; ZFMK • 1 ♂; “ X-SR1957, Sri Lanka, Galle District, Kottawa FR, 6.09712ºN, 80.31666ºE; 46m, 29-30-VI-2020, Benjamin & Ranasinghe, Black light ”; ZFMK • 1 ♂; “ X-SR1958, Sri Lanka, Galle District, Kottawa FR, 6.09712ºN, 80.31666ºE; 46m, 29-30-VI-2020, Benjamin & Ranasinghe, Black light ”; ZFMK • 1 ♂; “ X-SR1959, Sri Lanka, Galle District, Kottawa FR, 6.09712ºN, 80.31666ºE; 46m, 29-30-VI-2020, Benjamin & Ranasinghe, Black light ”; ZFMK • 1 ♂; “ X- SR1960, Sri Lanka, Galle District, Kottawa FR, 6.09712ºN, 80.31666ºE; 46m, 29-30-VI-2020, Benjamin & Ranasinghe, Black light ”; ZFMK • 1 ♂; “ X- SR2118, Sri Lanka, Galle District, Kottawa FR, 6.09812ºN, 80.31610ºE, 44m, 11-XII-2020; Ranasinghe & Athukorala, Black light ”; ZFMK • 1 ♂; “ X- SR2119, Sri Lanka, Galle District, Kottawa FR, 6.09812ºN, 80.31610ºE, 44m, 11-XII-2020; Ranasinghe & Athukorala, Black light ”; ZFMK • 1 ♂; “ X- SR2120, Sri Lanka, Galle District, Kottawa FR, 6.09812ºN, 80.31610ºE, 44m, 11-XII-2020; Ranasinghe & Athukorala, Black light ”; ZFMK • 1 ♂; “ X- SR2121, Sri Lanka, Galle District, Kottawa FR, 6.09812ºN, 80.31610ºE, 44m, 11-XII-2020; Ranasinghe & Athukorala, Black light ”; ZFMK • 1 ♂; “ X- SR2122, Sri Lanka, Galle District, Kottawa FR, 6.09812ºN, 80.31610ºE, 44m, 11-XII-2020; Ranasinghe & Athukorala, Black light ”; ZFMK • 1 ♀; “ X- SR1961, Sri Lanka, Galle District, Kottawa FR, 6.09812ºN, 80.31610ºE, 44m, 30-VI-2020, Benjamin & Ranasinghe, Black light ”; ZFMK • 1 ♀; “ X- SR2123, Sri Lanka, Galle District, Kottawa FR, 6.09812ºN, 80.31610ºE, 44m, 11-XII-2020; Ranasinghe & Athukorala, Black light ”; ZFMK • 1 ♀;“ X- SR2104, Sri Lanka, Galle District, Kottawa FR, 6.09712ºN, 80.31666ºE; 46m, 11-XII-2020; Ranasinghe & Athukorala, Black light ”; ZFMK.
Description
MEASUREMENTS. Length: 8.9 mm, length of elytra: 6.1 mm, width: 5.2 mm.
HABITUS (Fig. 3D) AND COLOURATION. Body oval, dark brown, antenna yellow, dorsal surface shiny and glabrous.
HEAD. Labroclypeus subtrapezoidal, wider than long, widest at base, lateral margins weakly convex and convergent to moderately rounded anterior angles, lateral border and ocular canthus producing a blunt angle, margins weakly reflexed, anterior margin shallowly sinuate medially; surface strongly convex medially, weakly shiny, anterior half nearly impunctate, behind finely and densely punctate, distance between punctures subequal to their diameter, with a few fine setae behind anterior margin; frontoclypeal suture very feebly impressed and weakly angled medially; smooth area in front of eye approximately three times as wide as long; ocular canthus moderately long and narrow, impunctate but surface slightly concave, with a single short terminal seta. Frons with fine, moderately dense punctures, posterior half impunctate, surface glabrous except for a few setae anteriorly beside eyes. Eyes moderately large, ratio of diameter/interocular width: 0.7. Antenna yellowish brown, with ten antennomeres; club with four antennomeres, 1.3 times as long as remaining antennomeres combined. Mentum elevated and anteriorly flattened.
PRONOTUM. Moderately wide, widest at base, lateral margins evenly convex and narrowed to anterior angles, anterior angles strongly produced and sharp, anterior marginal line widely incomplete medially, anterior margin moderately produced medially; surface densely and coarsely punctate, glabrous; anterior and lateral borders sparsely setose, basal margin without marginal line; hypomeron ventrobasally carinate and but not produced ventrally. Scutellum wide, triangular, with fine and dense punctures, each bearing a single very minute seta.
ELYTRA. Oblong, widest in posterior third, striae indistinctly impressed, finely and densely punctate, intervals flat, with fine, moderately dense punctures concentrated along striae, punctures partly with minute setae, without longer erect setae; epipleural edge fine, ending at the convex external apical angle of elytra, epipleura densely setose, apical border membranous, apex covered with short microtrichomes.
VENTRAL SURFACE. Dull, thorax and metacoxa with large and dense punctures, sparsely finely setose, metacoxa glabrous except for numerous short setae laterally; each abdominal sternite with generally distributed fine and dense punctures, without a distinct transverse row of coarse punctures each bearing a short seta, punctures with very short or minute setae, penultimate sternite apically with a shiny smooth but very short chitinous border. Mesosternum between mesocoxae little wider than mesofemur. Ratio of length of metepisternum/metacoxa: 1/1.15. Pygidium lost in holotype.
LEGS. Moderately wide;femur with two longitudinal rows of setae, finely and moderately densely punctate; metafemur dull, anterior edge acute, with adjacent continuously serrated line, anterior longitudinal row of setae complete; posterior ventral margin almost straight, weakly widened in apical half, nor ventrally nor dorsally serrated, glabrous. Metatibia moderately wide and long, widest behind middle, dorsal and ventral margins in posterior two thirds subparallel, ratio width/length: 1/3.2, dorsally weakly edged, with two groups of spines, basal one at first quarter, apical one at three quarters of metatibial length, basally beside dorsal margin with a very short serrated line; lateral face longitudinally convex, with very sparse and fine punctures, punctures glabrous; ventral margin with three strong spines equidistant from each other, medial face smooth, apex interiorly near tarsal articulation distinctly concave. Tarsomeres impunctate dorsally, ventrally with dense, fine setae; metatarsomeres ventrally with a strongly serrated ridge, beside which is no strong longitudinal carina, first metatarsomere one quarter of its length longer than dorsal tibial spur, subsequent tarsomeres lacking in holotype. Protibia moderately long, tridentate. Protarsomeres lacking in holotype.
AEDEAGUS. Fig. 3A–C.
Variation
Length: 8.2–8.8 mm, length of elytra: 6.1–6.25 mm, width: 5.2–5.3 mm. Pygidium moderately convex, shiny, finely densely punctate, without smooth midline, glabrous except some longer setae along the apical margin. First metatarsomere one quarter of its length longer than dorsal tibial spur, slightly shorter than following two tarsomeres combined. Protibia moderately long, tridentate. Protarsomeres ventrally with some yellow setae, protarsal claws symmetrical, feebly curved and short, with normally developed basal tooth.
Female
Length: 8.8–9.2 mm, length of elytra: 6.2–7.0 mm, width: 5.5–5.7 mm. Eyes as large as in male; antennal club as long as remaining antennomeres combined.
Distribution
See Fig. 7A.
description: Published as part of Ranasinghe, Sasanka, Eberle, Jonas, Athukorala, Namal, Benjamin, Suresh P. & Ahrens, Dirk, 2022, New species of Sericini from Sri Lanka (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae). Part II, pp. 57-101 in European Journal of Taxonomy 821 (1) on pages 60-63, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2022.821.1799, http://zenodo.org/record/6595468