Amiserica ventriscalptus 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 ventriscalptus

description: Amiserica ventriscalptus Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species
Figures 9A–D, 16
Type material examined. Holotype: ♂ “ China: N-Yunnan, Baiyungshan (Rai Railing Mts.) 2400m, Yong Ren, VII-2003 leg. Ying et al. / 734 Sericini Asia spec.” (ZFMK). Paratypes: 1 ♀ “ China: N-Yunnan, Baiyungshan (Rai Railing Mts.) 2400m, Yong Ren, VII-2003 leg. Ying et al. ” (ZFMK), 6 ♂♂ “ China, W Yunnan prov., mts. 60km E Tengchong, 2300m, 14.–19.v.2006, S. Murzin & I. Shokhin ” (CP, ZFMK).
Description of the holotype. Length: 7.2 mm, length of elytra: 5.4 mm, width: 4.2 mm. Body oval, reddish brown, surface shiny, antenna yellowish brown, on dorsal surface with long setae interspersed with short adpressed ones. Setae of holotype partly abraded.
Labroclypeus semicircular, widest at base, lateral margins convex and strongly convergent to strongly rounded anterior angles, lateral border and ocular canthus producing an indistinct angle, anterior margin almost straight, margins weakly reflexed; surface flat and shiny, coarsely and densely punctate, partly punctures fusing with each other, with dense long erect setae; frontoclypeal suture finely impressed and weakly bent at middle; smooth area anterior to eye short, twice as wide as long. Ocular canthus short and triangular (1/3 of ocular width), finely and sparsely punctate, glabrous except a short terminal seta. Frons completely shiny, coarsely and densely punctate, with dense long pilosity, on posterior third almost impunctate and glabrous. Eyes moderately large, ratio of diameter/ interocular width: 0.6. Antenna with ten antennomeres, club with three antennomeres, 1.6 times as long as remaining antennomeres combined. Mentum elevated and flattened anteriorly.
Pronotum widest at base, lateral margins in basal half straight and subparallel, in anterior third convex and well convergent anteriorly, anterior angles acute and distinctly produced, posterior angles nearly rectangular; anterior margin strongly convex, its marginal line widely interrupted medially; basal margin without marginal line; surface with very dense and fine punctures and with dense double pilosity, long setae (directed nearly upright or posteriorly) interspersed with only minute ones (as usual directed posteriorly); anterior and lateral borders densely setose; hypomeron carinate, basal margin of hypomeron weakly produced ventrally. Scutellum subtriangular, apex sharp, with fine and very dense punctures, with mostly short adpressed setae, erect setae very sparse.
Elytra oval, widest in posterior third, striae finely impressed, with fine and dense punctures; intervals weakly convex, with fine and evenly dense punctures being on odd intervals more concentrated along striae; with dense pilosity mostly abraded in holotype, present only on lateral intervals (short adjacent and long erect setae); epipleural edge robust, ending at external apical angle of elytra; epipleura densely setose, apical border membraneous, with a robust rim of microtrichomes.
Ventral surface shiny, with fine and very dense punctures, including metacoxa with dense, adpressed, long setae. Abdominal sternites somewhat iridescent, finely and densely punctate, punctures with short adpressed setae, each sternite with a distinct transverse row of coarse punctures each bearing a long, robust, erect seta. Mesosternum between mesocoxae 1.5 times as wide as mesofemur. Ratio of length of metepisternum/metacoxa: 1/1.29. Pygidium weakly convex and iridescent, with fine, dense punctures and dense, short and long setae in apical half.
Legs wide and short; femora coarsely and densely punctate, punctures with moderately long adpressed setae, with two longitudinal rows of setae; anterior edge of metafemur acute, with an adjacent and slightly elevated continuously serrated line; posterior margin ventrally weakly widened in apical half but not serrate, posterior margin also dorsally not serrate. Metatibia wide and short, widest at apex, ratio width/length: 1/2.8; dorsal margin sharply carinate, with only one group of spines, basal group of spines completely reduced, apical one at 7/8 of metatibial length, basally without robust single setae, beside dorsal margin with a complete serrated line convergent with dorsal margin behind apical group of spines, between serrated line and dorsal margin finely punctate; lateral face weakly longitudinally convex, with dense and coarse punctures bearing each a short adpressed seta; ventral margin not serrated, with five robust and long, equidistant spines; medial face densely punctate and shortly setose; apex interiorly near tarsal articulation concavely sinuate. Tarsomeres dorsally impunctate and glabrous, ventrally with short and long, dense setae. Metatarsomeres ventrally carinate but not serrated, laterally not carinate; first metatarsomere little shorter than following tarsomere and little longer than dorsal tibial spur. Protibia very short, bidentate, protarsal claws symmetrical, basal tooth of inner claw simply pointed.
Aedeagus: Fig. 9A–C. Habitus: Fig. 9D.
Variation. Length: 7.2–9.1 mm, length of elytra: 5.4–6.5 mm, width: 4.2–5.0 mm. Females are highly similar to the males, but the antennal club is distinctly shorter as in male (being little shorter than remaining antennomeres combined) and the eyes are slightly smaller (ratio of diameter/ interocular width: 0.55).
Diagnosis. Amiserica ventriscalptus Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species differs from Amiserica gibbosiforceps Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species, by the long erect setae on pronotum being erect or directed posteriorly, the simple apical phallobase having on dorsal subapical part not any gibbosity, and the long antennal club being nearly twice as long as remaining antennomeres combined.
Etymology. The name (adjective in the nominative singular) of the new species is derived from the combined Latin words ventris- (venter) and scalptus, (incised) with reference to the deeply incised ventral portion of phallobase (before left paramere).
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 35-37, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5050.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/5560512