Microserica vipinglangensis Ahrens, Lukic, new species
Creators: name: Ahrens, Dirk
name: Liu, Wangang
name: Lukic, Daniel
name: Bai, Ming
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Melolonthidae
Microserica
Microserica vipinglangensis

description: Microserica vipinglangensis Ahrens, Lukic & Liu, new species
Figs. 17A–D, 29
Type material examined. Holotype: Ô “ Yunnan 1800-2000m 25.04N 101.55E Vipinglang 17-20.6. Vit Kuban leg. 1994 / 830 Sericini: Asia spec.” (CP). Paratypes: 2 ÔÔ “ Yunnan 1800-2000m 25.04N 101.55E Vipinglang 17-20.6. Vit Kuban leg. 1994 / CS 39 / 23 Asia Sericini spec.” (CP, ZFMK).
Description of holotype. Length: 5.2 mm, length of elytra: 3.1 mm, width: 3.2 mm. Body oval, black, antennal funiculus, anterior and middle legs brown, dorsal surface simply shiny, ventral surface dull, dorsal surface glabrous.
Labroclypeus little wider than long, widest at base, lateral margins convex and convergent to moderately rounded anterior angles; anterior margin distinctly and widely emarginate medially, margins weakly reflexed; lateral margins and ocular canthus produce a blunt angle; surface shiny, strongly convex, coarsely and densely punctate, with a few long, erect setae anteriorly; frontoclypeal indistinctly incised, curved. Frons with moderately dense, coarse punctures, with a few long setae beside eyes and at middle behind frontoclypeal suture, otherwise glabrous. Smooth area in front of eyes strongly convex, as wide as long. Ocular canthus wide and short (1/3 of ocular width), densely coarsely punctate, without terminal seta. Eyes very small, ratio of diameter/interocular width: 0.4. Antenna with ten antennomeres; club composed of four antennomeres, straight, 1.1 times as long as remaining antennomeres combined. Mentum elevated and slightly flattened anteriorly.
Pronotum wide, widest at base, lateral margins in basal half straight and subparallel, anteriorly evenly convex and convergent to sharp, distinctly produced anterior angles, posterior angles blunt. Anterior margin of pronotum straight, with robust and complete marginal line; basal marginal line absent; surface coarsely and densely punctate, with very minute setae in punctures, anterior and lateral anterior margins sparsely setose. Hypomeron carinate, not produced ventrally. Scutellum triangular and dull, finely and densely punctate, on mesal base impunctate.
Elytra short oval, widest at middle, striae distinctly impressed, finely and densely punctate, intervals convex, with fine and sparse punctures concentrated along striae, with minute setae in punctures, odd intervals with a few sparse short setae; epipleural edge fine, ending convex external apical angle of elytra, epipleura densely setose, apical border chitinous, without a fringe of short microtrichomes (visible at ca 100x magnification).
Ventral surface dull, finely and densely punctate, metasternum sparsely covered with fine, short, or very minute setae; metacoxa glabrous, with a few single setae laterally. Mesosternum between mesocoxae as wide as mesofemur. Ratio of length of metepisternum/metacoxa: 1/1.55. Abdominal sternites finely punctate, with a transverse row of coarse punctures, each bearing a robust seta. Pygidium shiny and strongly convex, with mixed finer and larger punctures, without smooth midline, with numerous longer setae along apical margin, otherwise with minute setae in punctures.
Legs moderately wide; femora finely and sparsely punctate, with two longitudinal rows of longer setae. Metafemur moderately shiny, anterior margin acute, without submarginal serrated line; anterior row of seta-bearing punctures present; ventral posterior margin distinctly widened in apical half and entirely smooth, dorsal posterior margin finely serrate, with a few short setae basally. Metatibia short and wide, widest at apex, ratio width/length: 1/2.78; dorsal margin weakly carinate, with two groups of spines, basal group at anterior quarter, apical one at two thirds of metatibial length, in basal third with a few fine, single setae; lateral face longitudinally convex, finely and densely punctate in basal half, in apical half punctation sparse, almost entirely smooth, with minute setae in punctures; ventral margin finely serrate, with two robust setae in apical half; medial face densely finely punctate, apex interiorly near tarsal articulation concavely emarginate. Tarsomeres with fine, sparse setae ventrally, neither laterally nor dorsally carinate, dorsally smooth; metatarsomeres ventrally glabrous, with a strongly serrated ridge ventrally and a parallel subventral smooth carina immediately beside it; first metatarsomere little shorter than following two tarsomeres combined, almost twice as long as dorsal tibial spur. Protibia short, bidentate; anterior claws symmetrical, basal tooth of both claws bluntly truncate at apex.
Aedeagus: Fig. 17A–C. Habitus: Fig. 17D. Female unknown.
Diagnosis. Microserica vipinglangensis Ahrens, Lukic & Liu, new species is in shape of aedeagus most similar to Microserica soppongensis Ahrens, 2005. Microserica vipinglangensis Ahrens, Lukic & Liu, new species differs by the shiny black dorsal surface, the short antennal club composed only of four antennomeres, and shape of the parameres: the right paramere is strongly reflexed (dorsal view), while being almost straight in Mic. soppongensis; the left paramere is shorter, being distinctly shorter than the right one, and strongly curved (dorsal view); in Mic. soppongensis the latter is subequal to the right one and straight over its entire length except at apex.
Etymology. The species name is derived from the name of its type locality, Vipinglang (adjective nominative singular case).
Variation. Paratypes of the same size as holotype.
description: Published as part of Ahrens, Dirk, Liu, Wangang, Lukic, Daniel & Bai, Ming, 2023, A taxonomic review of Microserica Brenske, 1894 from continental Asia (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae: Sericini), pp. 1-115 in Zootaxa 5241 (1) on pages 47-48, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5241.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/7639734