Microserica panzona, Ahrens, Dirk, 2005

Ahrens, Dirk, 2005, Description of the two new Microserica species from Laos and Thailand (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae: Sericini), Zootaxa 1064, pp. 31-37 : 32-34

Microserica panzona sp. n. ( Fig. 1 A–C)

Type material. Holotype: ɗ “LAOS­NE Hua Phan prov.; Ban Saluei; Phu Phan Mt.; 20°15N 104°02E; 1500–2000 m; J. Bezdek leg.; 26.iv.–11.v.2001 ” ( MMBC via TICB). Paratype: 1 ɗ “LAOS­NE Hua Phan prov.; Ban Saluei; Phu Phan Mt.; 20°15’N 104°02’E; 1500–2000 m; D. Hauck leg.; 26.iv.–11.v.2001 ” (CA).

Holotype description. Length: 5.7 mm, length of elytra: 3.3 mm, width: 3.2 mm. Body oblong, entirely black including legs and elytra, antennal base brown, dorsal surface dull, dorsal surface with only a few setae. Head: Labroclypeus trapezoidal, widest at base; lateral margins moderately convergent anteriorly, anterior angles strongly rounded, lateral border and ocular canthus producing a distinct blunt angle, anterior and lateral margin weakly reflexed, anterior margin distinctly sinuate medially. Surface weakly convex medially shiny, with punctures of two sizes; larger punctures coarse, sparse, each bearing a long, erect seta; large punctures intermixed with fine glabrous punctures. Frontoclypeal suture indistinct, weakly curved, not elevated; smooth area anterior to eye as wide as long; ocular canthus moderately long, broad, finely and densely punctate, with a terminal seta. Frons with fine, moderately dense punctures, glabrous (except for a few erect setae adjacent to eyes). Eyes small, ratio of diameter / interocular width: 0.45. Antenna with ten antennomeres, dark yellow; club brown, with five equally long antennomeres; club twice as long as the remaining antennomeres combined, strongly reflexed at apex externally. Prementum distinctly elevated, convex. Pronotum: widest at base; lateral margins in posterior half almost straight, subparallel; in anterior half straight, strongly convergent; anterior angles strongly produced, acute; posterior angles blunt, weakly rounded; anterior margin weakly convex medially with a distinct, fine marginal line; basal margin without fine marginal line. Pronotal surface with dense, fine punctation; each puncture bearing a minute seta. Anterior and lateral borders setaceous; basal margin of hypomeron not produced ventrally, not transversely sulcate anterior to base. Scutellum : slightly longer than wide; apex weakly pointed; surface with fine, dense, minutely setose punctures. Elytra: moderately oblong, widest medially; striae distinctly impressed with fine, dense punctures; intervals weakly convex with fine, moderately dense punctures mainly concentrated along the striae; punctures on odd intervals with a few short setae. Epipleural edge robust, ending at the moderately convex external apical angle of elytra; epipleura densely setaceous; weakly curved at anterior third of elytra; apical border chitinous, without short microtrichomes. Ven t er: surface dull with fine, dense punctures; metasternum sparsely setose. Metacoxa nearly glabrous (with a few robust setae laterally). Abdominal sternites with distinct transverse row of coarse punctures bearing thick setae between fine, dense punctation; tegument of sternites without minute transverse polygons (magnification 60x); penultimate sternite without longitudinally impressed line. Mesosternum between mesocoxae narrower than mesofemur with irregularly scattered, strong setae. Ratio of length of metepisternum / metacoxa: 1 / 1.5. Pygidium moderately convex, shiny; base dull with coarse, dense punctures; punctures with minute setae; setae longer along apical margin; surface without smooth midline. Legs: slender with shiny surface. Femora with two longitudinal rows of setae; finely, densely punctate and setose. Anterior edge of metafemur acute, lacking an adjacent serrated line; posterior margin weakly convex with a few fine setae medially, weakly widened in apical half, smooth ventrally, smooth dorsally, with short setae. Metatibia moderately slender, long, widest at apex; ratio width / length: 1 / 3.2; dorsal margin sharply carinate, smooth with two groups of spines, the basal group at one third, apical one at two thirds of metatibial length; basally with a few single spines in punctures; lateral face longitudinally convex, almost smooth, with a few fine punctures beside dorsal and ventral margin; ventral edge serrated, with three long, strong, equally spaced spines; medial face with dense, fine punctures; apex interiorly near tarsal articulation weakly concavely sinuate. Tarsomeres dorsally glabrous, smooth; basal tarsomeres glabrous ventrally; metatarsomeres dorsally without longitudinal impressions, ventrally with a strongly serrated ridge adjacent to a fine longitudinal carina, laterally without a strong longitudinal carina; first metatarsomere slightly shorter than the following two tarsomeres combined, slightly longer than the upper tibial spur. Protibia short, bidentate. Protarsal claws symmetrical, basal tooth of inner protarsal claw sharply pointed apically. Aedeagus: Fig. 1 A–C.

Diagnosis. Microserica panzona is very similar in habitus to the Anomalophylla species with black elytra. However, the new species differs from Anomalophylla in the following character states (1) basal tooth of interior protarsal claw sharply pointed; (2) tegument of abdominal sternites (60x magnification) without fine mesh pattern formed by microtrichomes; (3) median longitudinal impression on last and penultimate abdominal sternite absent; and (4) left side of phallobase not produced laterally. Microserica panzona differs from the closely related M. simplex Arrow, 1946 by the antennal club having five antennomeres (six in M. simplex ), by the black colour, and by the form of the right paramere (which is produced medially at the dorsal margin but not at the ventral one).

Etymology. The name is derived from the word “panzone” (dialect of Italian language, person with a big belly) with reference to the convex shape of the beetle (treated as a noun in apposition).

Figures

FIGURE 1. (A – C) Microserica panzona sp. n. (holotype); (D – F) M. soppongensis sp. n. (holotype); (A, D) aedeagus, left side lateral view; (B, E) parameres, dorsal view; (C, F) aedeagus, right side lateral view. Scale bar = 0.5 mm.