Neoserica sichuanica Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu 2014, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Ahrens, Dirk
name: Liu, Wangang
name: Fabrizi, Silvia
name: Bai, Ming
name: Yang, Xing-Ke
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2014
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Scarabaeidae
Neoserica
Neoserica sichuanica

description: Neoserica (s.l.) sichuanica Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu sp. nov.
(Figures 7A–D, 11)
Type material examined
Holotype. ♂ ‘ Huangjiagou, Kangding, Sichuan, 4.VIII.2004, 2900 m, leg. Xue Huaijun’ (IZAS). Paratypes: 1 ♂ ‘ Szechuen China DC Graham /nr Tatsienlu Aug. 7, 1923 5–8500 ft alt.’ (USNM), 1 ♂ ‘ Huangjiagou, Kangding, Sichuan, 4.VIII.2004, 2900 m, leg. Zhang Yong’ (ZFMK), 1 ♂ ‘ Huangjiagou, Kangding, Sichuan, 4. VIII.2004, 2900 m, leg. Wan Xia’ (IZAS).
Description
Length. 8.2 mm, length of elytra: 6.4 mm, width: 4.7 mm. Body oblong, reddish brown, frons slightly darker, dorsal surface dull and nearly glabrous.
Labroclypeus subtrapezoidal, widest at base, lateral margins slightly convex and moderately convergent to weakly rounded anterior angles, lateral border and ocular canthus producing a distinct blunt angle, margins weakly reflexed, anterior margin broadly and deeply sinuate medially; surface flat and shiny, finely and very densely punctate, partly punctures fusing with each other, with a numerous long erect setae in coarser but superficial punctures; frontoclypeal suture feebly incised and medially weakly angled; smooth area in front of eye approximately 1.5 times as wide as long; ocular canthus long and slender, very finely and sparsely punctate, terminal seta absent. Frons dull, with fine and very sparse punctures, with a few long setae beside eyes and behind frontoclypeal suture. Eyes large, ratio of diameter/interocular width: 0.78. Antenna with 10 antennomeres; club with four antennomeres, nearly 1.5 times as long as remaining antennomeres combined. Mentum convexly elevated anteriorly.
Pronotum moderately wide, widest shortly before base, lateral margins evenly curved and weakly narrowed anteriorly and posteriorly, anterior angles moderately produced and sharp, posterior angles blunt and slightly rounded at tip, anterior margin convexly produced medially, broad marginal line widely missing, basal margin without marginal line; surface with moderately dense and fine punctures, with minute setae only; anterior and lateral borders sparsely setose; hypomeron distinctly carinate at base. Scutellum narrow and long, sharp at apex, with fine and moderately dense punctures and minute setae.
Elytra oblong, widest at posterior third, striae distinctly impressed, finely and densely punctate, intervals weakly convex and sparsely punctate, punctures concentrated along striae, odd intervals with some single, fine setae; epipleural edge robust, ending at strongly curved external apical angle of elytra, epipleura densely setose, apical border membranous, with short microtrichomes.
Ventral surface dull, with large and dense punctures, sparsely and shortly setose, setae partly adpressed; metacoxa glabrous, with fine setae laterally, apical margin convex and external apical angle rounded; each abdominal sternite with a distinct transversal row of coarse punctures each bearing a short seta between fine and moderately dense punctation. Mesosternum between mesocoxae nearly half as wide as mesofemur, with irregularly scattered, fine setae. Ratio of length of metepisternum/ metacoxa: 1/1.48. Pygidium moderately convex, finely and moderately densely punctate, without smooth midline, punctures with sparse, short setae, a few longer setae beside apical margin.
Legs slender; femora with two longitudinal rows of setae, finely and moderately densely punctate; metafemur ventrally dull, anterior margin sharply carinate, without a submarginal serrated line, posterior margin moderately convex, with a few strong setae medially, only weakly widened externally in apical half and not serrated ventrally in distal half, finely serrated dorsally, with dense, short setae. Metatibia slender and long, widest at apex, ratio width/length: 1/3.4, dorsal margin moderately carinate, with two groups of spines, basal group of spines shortly before half of metatibial length, apical one at about three quarters of metatibial length, basally with a few single fine spines; external face longitudinally convex, with moderately coarse, sparse punctures; ventral margin finely serrated, with four fine, equidistant spines; medial face impunctate, apex concavely truncate interiorly near tarsal articulation. Tarsomeres dorsally finely punctate, with a few long setae, with sparse, short setae ventrally; metatarsomeres dorsally with a few longitudinally impressed superficial punctures, glabrous, with a strongly serrated ridge ventrally and glabrous, and with a fine longitudinal carina immediately beside it; first metatarsomere slightly shorter than following two tarsomeres combined and slightly longer than dorsal tibial spur. Protibia long, bidentate, protarsal claws symmetrical, basal tooth of inner protarsal claw bluntly truncate apically.
Aedeagus. Figure 7A–C. Female unknown.
Diagnosis
The new species is very similar to N. usta sp. nov. in shape of aedeagus. It differs from N. usta, however, by the ventral process of phallobase, having it dorsoventrally extended and longitudinally bent and divided into a dorsal and a ventral sublobe (Figure 7C); the right paramere of N. sichuanica sp. nov. is distinctly longer.
Etymology
The new species is named according to its occurrence in Sichuan (Latin adjective in the nominative singular).
Variation
Length. 8.2–8.5 mm, length of elytra: 6.4–6.6 mm, width: 4.7–5.0 mm.
description: Published as part of Ahrens, Dirk, Liu, Wangang, Fabrizi, Silvia, Bai, Ming & Yang, Xing-Ke, 2014, A revision of the species of the Neoserica (sensu lato) vulpes group (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Sericini), pp. 1073-1130 in Journal of Natural History 49 (17) on pages 1117-1119, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2014.974707, http://zenodo.org/record/4005857