Shairella cheni Lee & Beenen, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Lee, Chi-Feng
name: Beenen, Ron
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2017
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Chrysomelidae
Shairella
Shairella cheni

description: Shairella cheni Lee & Beenen, sp. nov.
(Fig. 4)
Type locality. Taiwan: Taitung County, Lichia trail (fflḃŔả), 22°48’09”N, 120°59’15”E, 1100 m.
Types (n= 12). Holotype ♂ (TARI), Taitung: Lichia trail (fflḃŔả), 15.VII.2014, leg. B.- X. Guo. Paratypes: 2♂ (TARI), same data as holotype; 1♀ (TARI), same locality, 25.VII.2015, leg. Y.- T. Chung, P.- H. Kuo & S.- P. Wu; 7♂, 1♀ (TARI, RBCN), same locality, 1.VII.2016, leg. B.- X. Guo.
Males. Length 5.7–5.9 mm; width 3.6–3.7 mm. Antenna (Fig. 4 A) long, filiform, about 1.1x longer than body, length ratios of antennomeres I–XI 1.0: 0.3: 0.7: 0.9: 0.8: 0.9: 0.9: 0.8: 0.8: 0.8: 0.8, length to width ratios of antennomeres I–XI 3.4: 1.6: 3.1: 4.2: 4.1: 4.6: 4.6: 5.1: 5.5: 5.0: 6.0. Elytra apically and weakly widened; about 1.1x longer than wide; surface with sparse and coarse punctures, and with several indistinct longitudinal ridges. Apical margin of last abdominal ventrite with two well developed incisions. Penis (Figs 4 C–4D) elongate, about 5.6x longer than wide, gradually narrowed towards basal 1/5, apically tapering from apical 1/9, strongly curved in lateral view; endophallic sclerite long, about 0.7x as long as penis, slender and longitudinal, apical margin rounded, with dense short hairs along lateral margin at middle, bifurcate at basal 1/6.
Females. Length 6.1–6.2 mm, width 4.1–4.2 mm. Antenna (Fig. 4 B) extremely long, filiform, as long as body, length ratios of antennomeres I–XI 1.0: 0.4: 0.7: 0.9: 0.8: 0.9: 0.8: 0.8: 0.8: 0.8: 0.9, length to width ratios of antennomeres I–XI 3.7: 1.7: 3.1: 4.3: 4.5: 4.8: 4.5: 5.1: 5.4: 5.4: 7.0. Elytra strongly widened apically; as long as wide; surface with sparse, fine punctures and with several indistinct longitudinal ridges. Apical margin of last abdominal ventrite subtruncate. Gonocoxae (Fig. 4 E) longitudinal and narrow, 2.9X longer than wide, conjoined from base to middle, slightly narrowed at apical 1/3, apices rounded, each gonocoxa with eight or nine elongate setae. Ventrite VIII (Fig. 4 F) with only apical area and spiculum sclerotized; with dense elongated inside apical sclerotized area, apical margin rounded; spiculum elongate and wide. Receptacle of spermatheca (Fig. 4 G) slender, as wide as pump, hardly separated from pump; pump wide and strongly curved, apex broadly rounded, apex with transverse, broad sclerite (Fig. 4 H), size variable; proximal spermathecal duct hardly separated from receptacle, apically narrowed.
Differential diagnosis. Shairella cheni sp. nov. is similar to S. chungi sp. nov. based on the large body size and coarse punctures on the elytra. This species differs from S. chungi sp. nov. by the tapering of the penis from the apical 1/4 to apex (Figs 4 C–4D) (lanceolate apex in S. chungi sp. nov. (Figs 6 C–6D)).
Host plant. Strobilanthes flexicaulis Hayata (Acanthaceae).
Etymology. This new species is dedicated to Mr. Chang Chin Chen for supporting the TCRT in various ways.
Distribution. Only known from the type locality (Fig. 3 A).
description: Published as part of Lee, Chi-Feng & Beenen, Ron, 2017, Revision of the genus Shairella Chûjô, 1962 (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae) from Taiwan, with descriptions of five new species, pp. 489-507 in Zootaxa 4268 (4) on pages 494-496, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4268.4.2, http://zenodo.org/record/580906