Amiserica belousovi Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu 2021, new species
Creators: name: Ahrens, Dirk
name: Liu, Wangang
name: Pham, Phu Van
name: Fabrizi, Silvia
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Melolonthidae
Amiserica
Amiserica belousovi

description: Amiserica belousovi Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species
Figures 10I–L, 17
Type material examined. Holotype: ♂ “ H. S. Sichuan, Emei Shan Mt. (SW slope) 700–1500 m, 21.05.2001 Belousov & Korolev” (ZIN). Paratype: 1 ♀ “ CH. S. Sichuan, Emei Shan Mt. (SW slope) 700–1500 m, 21.05.2001 Belousov & Korolev” (ZIN).
Description of the holotype. Length: 9.6 mm, length of elytra: 6.9 mm, width: 5.1 mm. Body oblong, dark reddish brown, surface shiny, labroclypeus shiny, antenna yellowish brown, dorsal surface almost glabrous.
Labroclypeus subtrapezoidal, widest at base, lateral margins convex and convergent to weakly rounded anterior angles, lateral border and ocular canthus producing a distinct angle; anterior margin distinctly emarginate medially, margins moderately reflexed; surface convex and shiny, coarsely and densely punctate, with a few long erect setae in transverse line at middle; frontoclypeal suture finely incised and distinctly elevated, angled medially; smooth area anterior to eye twice as wide as long. Ocular canthus moderately long and wide, finely and sparsely punctate, with a short terminal seta, equal to 1/3 of ocular diameter. Frons finely and irregularly sparsely punctate, with a few long setae beside eyes. Eyes moderately large, ratio of diameter/interocular width: 0.54. Antenna with nine antennomeres, club with three antennomeres, straight, 1.2 times as long as remaining antennomeres combined. Mentum elevated and flattened anteriorly.
Pronotum widest at base, lateral margins in basal half straight and weakly convergent anteriorly, in anterior part strongly curved and convergent to moderately produced and rectangular anterior angles, posterior angles blunt but rounded in tip; anterior margin distinctly convex, with the marginal line very narrowly interrupted at middle; basal margin without marginal line; surface with partly irregularly dense and fine punctures, glabrous, only on side punctures bearing an extremely minute seta; anterior and lateral borders sparsely setose; hypomeron carinate, basal margin of hypomeron not produced ventrally. Scutellum triangular, apex sharp, with fine and dense punctures, glabrous.
Elytra oblong, widest in posterior third, striae distinctly impressed, with fine and dense punctures; intervals moderately convex, with fine and moderately dense punctures concentrated along striae, glabrous; epipleural edge moderately strong, ending at strongly rounded external apical angle of elytra, epipleura densely setose, apical border narrowly membraneous, with a rim of short microtrichomes.
Ventral surface dull, with coarse and dense punctures, glabrous except a minute seta in punctures. Metacoxa only laterally with a few robust longer setae. Abdominal sternites finely and densely punctate and minutely setose, each sternite with a distinct transverse row of coarse punctures each bearing a short, robust seta. Mesosternum between mesocoxae as wide as mesofemur. Ratio of length of metepisternum/metacoxa: 1/1.35. Pygidium strongly convex and dull, with coarse, moderately dense punctures and a few fine, short setae on apical margin.
Legs slender; femora finely densely and coarsely punctate and glabrous, except for minute setae of punctures, with two longitudinal rows of setae; anterior margin of metafemur acute, without an adjacent continuously serrated line; ventral posterior margin weakly widened in apical half, completely strongly serrate, dorsal posterior margin also completely serrate. Metatibia slender and long, widest at apex, ratio width/length: 1/3.8, moderately carinate dorsally, with only one group of spines at 7/8 of metatibial length, basally with a few single spines in punctures; beside dorsal margin with a continuously serrated line until the group of spines convergent with dorsal margin, between serrated line and dorsal margin finely punctate; lateral face longitudinally convex, with sparse and coarse punctures bearing a minute seta; ventral margin finely serrated, with three fine and long, robust setae, of which the distal one is by far more distant from the others; medial face densely finely punctate, punctures with minute setae; apex interiorly near tarsal articulation shallowly concavely sinuate. Tarsomeres dorsally impunctate, ventrally with short, sparse setae. Metatarsomeres ventrally with a strongly serrated ridge and glabrous, laterally not carinate; first metatarsomere distinctly shorter than following two tarsomeres combined and little longer than dorsal tibial spur. Protibia moderately long, bidentate, protarsal claws symmetrical, basal tooth of inner claw simply but sharply truncate at apex.
Aedeagus: Fig. 10I–K. Habitus: Fig. 10L.
Variation. Length: 9.6–10.4 mm, length of elytra: 6.9–7.4 mm, width: 5.1–5.6 mm. Female: Antennal club short, as long as remining antennomeres combined; eyes slightly smaller than in holotype, ratio of diameter/interocular width: 0.51.
Diagnosis. Amiserica belousovi Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species differs from A. guanmenshanica Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species by the single lobes of parameres being narrower (lateral view) and long instead of shorter and wider as in A. guanmenshanica.
Etymology. The new species is named after one of its collectors, Belousov (noun in genitive case).
description: Published as part of Ahrens, Dirk, Liu, Wangang, Pham, Phu Van & Fabrizi, Silvia, 2021, An overview on the genus Amiserica Nomura, 1974 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae: Sericini), pp. 1-63 in Zootaxa 5050 (1) on pages 41-42, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5050.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/5560512