Amiserica panghongae 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 panghongae

description: Amiserica panghongae Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species
Figures 8K–N, 16
Type material examined. Holotype: ♂ “ Huguosi Temple, Mts. Fanjingshan, Guizhou, 2001.8.14., leg. Pang Hong / LW-951” (LSSYU). Paratypes: 1 ♂ “ Bikou, Wenxian County, Gansu, 27.VII. 1999, 720m, leg. Zhu Chaodong / LW-922” (IZAS), 1 ♂ “ Zhushitou, Dayong, Guizhou, 20.VIII. 1988, 800m, leg. Wang Shuyong ” (IZAS), 1 ♂ “ Zhushitou, Dayong, Guizhou, 18, 19.VIII. 1988, 350m, leg. Liu Hong ” (IZAS).
Description of the holotype. Length: 7.5 mm, length of elytra: 5.4 mm, width: 4.2 mm. Body oval, dark reddish brown, head and pronotum shiny, elytra dull, antenna yellowish brown, dorsal surface with long erect setae interspersed with short adpressed ones.
Labroclypeus semicircular, widest at base, lateral margins convex and strongly convergent to strongly rounded nearly obsolete anterior angles, lateral border and ocular canthus producing an indistinct angle, anterior margin convex, margins weakly reflexed; surface flat and shiny, finely and densely punctate, with dense long erect setae; frontoclypeal suture finely impressed but indistinct, weakly bent at middle; smooth area anterior to eye short, three times 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, finely and coarsely, densely punctate, with dense, long pilosity, on posterior third almost impunctate and glabrous. Eyes moderately large, ratio of diameter/ interocular width: 0.58. Antenna with ten antennomeres, club with three antennomeres, 0.9 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, anterior angles acute and distinctly produced, posterior angles nearly rectangular; anterior margin weakly convex, its marginal line fine and complete; basal margin without marginal line; surface with very dense and fine punctures and with dense double pilosity, long setae (directed nearly upright or forward) interspersed with short adpressed ones (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 sparse.
Elytra oval, widest at middle, striae indistinctly impressed, with fine and dense punctures; intervals flat, with fine and evenly dense punctures, with dense double pilosity as in pronotum (short and long adjacent setae directed posteriorly); epipleural edge robust, ending at external apical angle of elytra; epipleura densely setose, apical border broadly membraneous, with a robust rim of microtrichomes.
Ventral surface dull, with fine and very dense punctures, including metacoxa with dense, adpressed, long setae. Abdominal sternites shiny, 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: 1/1.43. Pygidium weakly convex and shiny, with fine, dense punctures and dense, short and long setae.
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: 1/2.17; dorsal margin sharply carinate, with only one group of spines, basal group of spines reduced to a single spine at 3/4 of metatibial length, 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 four 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 long, dense setae. Metatarsomeres ventrally carinate but not serrated, laterally not carinate; first metatarsomere as long as 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. 8K–M. Habitus: Fig. 8N. Female unknown.
Variation. Length: 7.0– 7.5 mm, length of elytra: 5.0– 5.4 mm, width: 3.9–4.2 mm.
Diagnosis. Amiserica panghongae Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species differs from Amiserica jizuensis Ahrens, Fabrizi &Liu, new species, by the short left paramere being as long as wide and the short, subtriangluar right paramere.
Etymology. The new species is named after its type locality, Panghong.
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 34-35, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5050.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/5560512