Microserica allovarians 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 allovarians

description: Microserica allovarians Ahrens, Lukic & Liu, new species
Figs. 11A–D, 27
Type material examined. Holotype: Ô “Burma (Myanmar) SW Shan state Taunggyi J. Rejsek 1.- 18.6.1997 / Coll. Dirk Ahrens / 10 Asia Sericini spec.” (ZFMK). Paratypes: Myanmar: 7 ÔÔ “ Maymyo, Burma. H.L. Andrewes. / Andrewes Bequest. B.M. 1922-221.” (BMNH), 5 ÔÔ, 3 ♀♀ “ Myanmar, Shan State, near Nyaung Shwe (Inle lake) 20°39’18’’N, 96°52’58’’E, 965m, 28.VI.2006, leg. M. Homburg ” (ZFMK). Thailand: 1 Ô “NW Thailand 9.-16.V. Mae Hong Son 1991 Ban Huai Po 1600m leg. P. Pacholátko / TS 72” (CP), 23 ÔÔ “NE Thailand 1.-15.5[?]. 1991 Mae Hong Son Ban Huai Po 800-1600 m S. Bily leg.” (NHMW, ZFMK), 1 Ô, 3 ♀♀ “NW Thailand 9.-16.5. Mae Hong Son, 1991 Ban Huai Po 1600-2000 m J. Horák leg.” (ZFMK), 3 ÔÔ “NW Thailand 9.- 16.5.1991 Mae Hong Son, Ban Huai Po 1600-2000 m J. Horák leg.” (ZFMK), 9 ÔÔ, 1 ♀ “N. Thailand Ban Huai Po 9.- 16.5. 1991 I. Horák leg. / Coll. Milan Nikodym Praha ” (ZFMK), 5 ÔÔ “NE Thailand 28.4.1991 Mae Hong Son S. Bily leg.” (NHMW, ZFMK), 6 ÔÔ “NW Thailand 8.-17.V.1992 Mae Hong Son, Ban Huai Po 1500 m S. Bily leg.” (NHMW, ZFMK), 2 ÔÔ “ Thailand bor. occ. 30.4.- 14.5.1991 Mae Hong Son env. Ban Huai Po 1800 m Jan Farkac leg.” (NHMW), 35 ÔÔ “NW Thailand, 19.19N, 97.59E Mae Hong Son, 1991 Ban Huai Po 1600-2000 m 17.-23.5., L. Dembicky leg.” (NHMW, ZFMK), 1 Ô “ Ban Angkhai, alt. 750m Samoeng Distr. Chiang Mai pref. Thailand 15-20- V-1998 K. Matsumoto leg.” (ZFMK).
Description of holotype. Length: 4.9 mm, length of elytra: 2.9 mm, width: 2.9 mm. Body oval, dark brown, antennal club and tarsi yellowish brown, dorsal surface dull, sometimes partly iridescent shiny, nearly glabrous.
Labroclypeus little wider than long, widest at middle, lateral margins in basal half subparallel, strongly convex anteriorly and convergent to strongly rounded anterior angles; anterior margin weakly emarginate medially, margins weakly reflexed; lateral margins and ocular canthus produce a blunt angle; surface shiny, almost flat, finely and coarsely, densely punctate, with numerous long, erect setae; frontoclypeal suture finely incised and bent medially. Frons dull, with sparse, fine punctures, with minute setae in punctures, otherwise glabrous. Smooth area in front of eyes as wide as long. Ocular canthus narrow and moderately long (1/3 of ocular width), sparsely finely punctate, without terminal seta. Eyes small, ratio of diameter/interocular width: 0.52. Antenna with ten antennomeres; club composed of six antennomeres, straight, 1.5 times as long as remaining antennomeres combined. Mentum elevated and slightly flattened anteriorly.
Pronotum wide, widest at base, lateral margins evenly convex and convergent to blunt, moderately produced anterior angles, posterior angles blunt.Anterior margin of pronotum weakly convex, with fine and complete marginal line; basal marginal line absent; surface finely and densely punctate, with minute setae in punctures, lateral and lateral anterior margins glabrous. Hypomeron carinate, weakly produced ventrally. Scutellum triangular, finely and densely punctate, on midline 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, penultimate lateral interval with a few sparse short setae; epipleural edge robust, ending at slightly rounded 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: 1/1.76. Abdominal sternites finely punctate, with a transverse row of coarse punctures, each bearing a robust seta. Pygidium moderately convex and dull, with mixed finer and larger punctures, without smooth midline, with numerous short setae and a few longer in the larger 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 entirely smooth, distinctly widened in apical half, dorsal posterior margin serrate, with a few short setae basally. Metatibia moderately long and wide, widest at middle, ratio width/ length: 1/2.78; dorsal margin sharply carinate, with two groups of spines, basal group at one third, apical one at three quarter of metatibial length, in basal third with a few robust single setae; lateral face longitudinally convex, finely and sparsely punctate, along midline smooth, with minute setae in punctures; ventral edge finely serrate, with three robust equidistant setae; medial face smooth, apex interiorly near tarsal articulation bluntly truncate. Tarsomeres with fine, sparse setae ventrally, neither laterally nor dorsally carinate, dorsally smooth; metatarsomeres 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. 11A–C. Habitus: Fig. 11D. Female unknown.
Diagnosis. Microserica allovarians Ahrens, Lukic & Liu, new species is in external appearance and shape of aedeagus most similar to Mic. simplex Arrow, 1946. Microserica allovarians Ahrens, Lukic & Liu, new species differs by the darker body color and the parameres being both narrow and long.
Etymology. The species name is derived from the combined Greek prefix “ allo ” (other) and the species name “ varians ”, with reference to the certain similarity to M. varians.
Variation. Length: 4.6–4.9 mm, length of elytra: 2.9–3.0 mm, width: 2.9–3.0 mm.
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 33-34, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5241.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/7639734