Gastroserica simaoensis 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
Gastroserica
Gastroserica simaoensis

description: Gastroserica simaoensis Ahrens, Lukic & Liu, new species
Figs. 3A–D, 25
Type material examined. Holotype Ô [China] “Simao, Yunnan, No. 49 / LW-360” (IZAS). Paratypes: Laos: 11 ÔÔ “NE-Laos: Hua Phan prov., Ban Saleui, Phou Pan (Mt.) - 20°12’N, 104°01’E; 11.iv.-15.v.2012; 1300-1900m; leg. C. Holzschuh - ZFMK Ankauf Bonn 2012” (ZFMK), 5 ÔÔ “NE-Laos: Hua Phan prov., Ban Saleui, Phou Pan (Mt.) - 20°12’N, 104°01’E; 11.iv.-15.v.2012; 1300-1900m, leg. C. Holzschuh - ZFMK Ankauf Bonn 2012/2013” (ZFMK), 1 Ô “836956 / 836956 Laos Xieng Khouang, Phonsavan (30 km NE), Phou Sane Mt. 1400-1600m, 10.- 30.5.2009 V. Kuban Microserica spLa1-cfvarians / 1112 Asia Sericini spec.” (ZFMK), 2 ÔÔ “LAOS, Xieng Khouang prov., 19°37–8’N, 103°20’E, Phonsavan (30 km NE) Phou Sane Mt., 1420 m, 10-30.v.2009, Z. Kraus leg. / NHMB Basel, NMPC Prague, Laos 2009, Expedition: M. Brancucci, M. Geiser, Z. Kraus, D. Hauck, V. Kubáň ” (NHMB), 1 Ô “XDA4729 / X- DA4729 LAOS Hua Phua prov., Ban Saluei, Phou Pan (Mt.) 20°12’N, 104°01’E 15.-30.iv.2014 leg. C. Holzschuh – ZFMK Ankauf 2014 Microserica spLAOS Phupane13” (ZFMK), 1 Ô “X-DA4731 / X- DA4731 LAOS Hua Phua prov., Ban Saluei, Phou Pan (Mt.) 20°12’N, 104°01’E 15.-30.iv.2014 leg. C. Holzschuh – ZFMK Ankauf 2014 Microserica spLAOS Phupane13” (ZFMK).
Description of holotype. Length: 5.1 mm, length of elytra: 3.8 mm, width: 3.2 mm. Body oval, body including legs reddish brown, antenna yellow, club slightly darker, head, elytra and abdomen blackish dark, pronotum and scutellum red, dorsal surface iridescent shiny, partly dull, nearly glabrous.
Labroclypeus elliptical, slightly wider than long, widest shortly before base, lateral margins strongly convex 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 weakly shiny, medially convexly elevated, coarsely and densely punctate, with numerous long, erect setae; frontoclypeal suture finely incised and curved medially. Frons dull, with sparse, coarse punctures, beside eyes and behind frontoclypeal suture with a few single short setae, otherwise with minute setae in punctures. Smooth area in front of eyes twice as wide as long. Ocular canthus sparsely finely punctate, narrow and moderately long (1/3 of ocular width), with a terminal seta. Eyes moderately large, ratio of diameter/interocular width: 0.65. Antenna with ten antennomeres; club composed of four antennomeres, slightly reflexed at apex, 1.2 times as long as remaining antennomeres combined. Mentum elevated and slightly flattened anteriorly.
Pronotum wide, widest shortly before base, lateral margins evenly convex and convergent to blunt but distinctly produced anterior angles, posterior angles moderately rounded. 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, anterior and lateral anterior margins sparsely setose. Hypomeron carinate, weakly produced ventrally. Scutellum triangular, finely and densely punctate, on midline narrowly impunctate.
Elytra short, widest at middle, striae distinctly impressed, finely and densely punctate, intervals convex, with fine and sparse punctures concentrated along striae, with very minute setae in punctures, odd intervals with a few 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: 1/1.9. Abdominal sternites finely punctate, with a transverse row of coarse punctures, each bearing a robust seta. Pygidium strongly 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 finely serrate at apex, only weakly 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: 1/2.4; dorsal margin sharply carinate, with two groups of spines, basal group at middle, 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 sharply truncate. Tarsomeres with fine, sparse setae ventrally, neither laterally nor dorsally carinate, dorsally smooth; metatarsomeres glabrous, with a strongly serrated ridge ventrally and a parallel subventral smooth carina immediately beside it; first metatarsomere little as long as following two tarsomeres combined, dorsal tibial spur missing in holotype. Protibia short, bidentate; anterior claws symmetrical, basal tooth of both claws bluntly truncate at apex.
Aedeagus: Fig. 3A–C. Habitus: Fig. 3D. Female unknown.
Diagnosis. Gastroserica simaoensis Ahrens, Lukic & Liu, new species is in external appearance and shape of aedeagus most similar to G. fukiensis Frey, 1972. The new species differs by the longer and more elongate basal lobe of left paramere, and the color.
Etymology. The name of the new species is derived from the type locality, Simao (adjective in singular nominative case).
Variation. Length: 5.1–5.9 mm, length of elytra: 3.8–4.0 mm, width: 3.2–3.4 mm. The coloration of this species is quite variable, ranging from yellowish brown having laterally and basally darkened elytra (some males), to the red form of the holotype.
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 14-15, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5241.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/7639734