Neoserica (s. l.) abnormoides, Ahrens, Dirk, Liu, Wan-Gang, Fabrizi, Silvia, Bai, Ming & Yang, Xing-Ke, 2014

Ahrens, Dirk, Liu, Wan-Gang, Fabrizi, Silvia, Bai, Ming & Yang, Xing-Ke, 2014, A taxonomic review of the Neoserica (sensu lato) abnormis group (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Sericini), ZooKeys 439, pp. 27-82 : 40-42

Taxon classification Animalia Coleoptera Scarabaeidae

Neoserica (s. l.) abnormoides sp. n. Figs 6 A–D, 8

Type material examined.

Holotype: ♂ "N. Vietnam (Tonkin) Tamdao 12.-24.5.1989 Pacholátko Leg./ Coll. P. Pacholátko Invt. No./ VS 45" (CPPB). Paratype: 1 ♂ "Mt. Wuyanling, Zhejiang, 3.VIII.2007, light trap, leg. Zhu Weibing" (NKUT).

Description.

Body length: 12.7 mm, length of elytra: 9.2 mm, width: 7.6 mm. Body oblong, dark brown, antennal club yellowish brown, anterior labroclypeus shiny, dorsal surface dull, sparsely setose.

Labroclypeus subtrapezoidal, distinctly wider than long, widest at base, lateral margins moderately convex and convergent anteriorly, anterior angles strongly rounded, anterior margin weakly sinuate medially, margins moderately reflexed; surface nearly flat and shiny, basis with dull toment, punctation dense, anteriorly more sparse, behind the anterior margin with coarse punctures each bearing a long erect seta; frontoclypeal suture indistinctly incised, flat and distinctly curved medially; smooth area anterior to eye approximately 1.5 times as wide as long; ocular canthus moderately long (length = 1/3 of ocular diameter) and slender, glabrous, with a long terminal seta. Frons dull, with fine and sparse punctures, beside the eyes with a few erect setae. Eyes small, ratio diameter/interocular width: 0.52. Antenna with ten antennomeres, club with six antennomeres, straight, only slightly longer than the remaining antennomeres combined; antennomere 5 subequal to two thirds of length of club, antennomere 4 slightly transverse, antennomere 3 half as long as pedicellus. Mentum elevated and slightly flattened anteriorly. Labrum distinctly produced medially, with a moderate median sinuation.

Pronotum moderately transverse, subtrapezoidal, widest at base, lateral margins evenly convex, in the basal half only weakly convergent, strongly convergent in anterior half, anterior angles sharp and distinctly produced, posterior angles blunt, slightly rounded at the tip; anterior margin nearly straight, with a distinct and complete marginal line; surface densely and finely punctate with minute setae in punctures; setae of anterior and lateral border sparse; hypomeron basally distinctly carinate, but carina only weakly produced. Scutellum wide and moderately long, triangular with nearly straight sides, apex slightly rounded, with fine, moderately dense punctures, with only minute setae.

Elytra oblong, apex slightly truncate, widest shortly behind the middle, striae weakly impressed, finely and moderately densely punctate, odd intervals slightly convex with punctures concentrated along the striae, others evenly punctate and nearly flat, odd intervals with white scale-like, adpressed setae, otherwise only with very minute setae in punctures; epipleural edge fine, very narrow behind the middle, ending at the blunt external apical angle of elytra, epipleura only sparsely setose, apical border chitinous, with only a very fine fringe of microtrichomes (visible at 100 × magnification).

Ventral surface dull, coarsely and densely punctate, metasternum sparsely covered with setae on the disc, glabrous on sides; metacoxa glabrous, with a few short setae laterally, posterior margin weakly convex; abdominal sternites finely and unevenly densely punctuate, nearly glabrous, with a transverse row of coarse punctures, each bearing a robust short seta. Mesosternum between mesocoxae half as wide as slender mesofemur. Ratio of length of metepisternum/metacoxa: 1/1.9. Pygidium weakly convex and dull, coarsely and densely punctate, without smooth midline, with a few semi-erect setae basally on sides, at apex with short, fine, very dense setae.

Legs slender; femora with two longitudinal rows of setae, finely and sparsely punctate between the rows; metafemur dull, anterior margin acute, behind anterior edge without serrated line, setae of anterior longitudinal row nearly completely lacking, posterior margin in apical half ventrally smooth and slightly widened, posterior margin dorsally distinctly serrated, on its basal portion with a few short setae. Metatibia slender and moderately long, widest at apex, ratio of width/length: 1/3.3, sharply carinate dorsally, with two groups of spines, basal group just before the middle, apical group at three quarters of metatibial length, basally with a few robust but single setae; lateral face longitudinally convex, very finely, superficially and sparsely punctate, subdorsal longitudinal carina on lateral face present on about two third of metatibial length; ventral edge finely serrated, with four robust equidistant setae; medial face smooth, apex moderately concavely sinuate interiorly near tarsal articulation. Tarsomeres ventrally with sparse, short setae, laterally not carinate, protarsomeres smooth, meso- and metatarsomeres with a few very fine punctures; metatarsomeres ventrally glabrous, with a strongly serrated ridge ventrally and a sharp subventral carina immediately beside it, first metatarsomere slightly longer than following two tarsomeres combined and slightly longer than dorsal tibial spur. Protibia long, bidentate; anterior claws symmetrical, basal tooth of inner claw sharply truncate at apex.

Aedeagus: Fig. 6 A–C.

Diagnosis.

Neoserica abnormoides is in shape of aedeagus very similar to the next species, Neoserica cardamomensis . It differs from this species by a small basal hook present at right paramere, and the ventral lobe of the left paramere being distinctly shorter and less strongly curved; the antennal club is composed in male only of six instead of seven antennomeres (as in Neoserica cardamomensis ).

Variation.

Body length: 12.5-12.7 mm, length of elytra: 9.0-9.2 mm, width: 7.5-7.6 mm.

Etymology.

The species is named with reference to the externally similar Neoserica abnormis .