Neoserica (s.l.) plurilamellata Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu

Ahrens, Dirk, Liu, Wan-Gang, Fabrizi, Silvia, Bai, Ming & Yang, Xing-Ke, 2014, A taxonomic review of the Neoserica (sensu lato) septemlamellata group (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Sericini), ZooKeys 402, pp. 67-102 : 79-80

Neoserica (s.l.) plurilamellata Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu sp. n. Figs 2 I–L, 7

Type material examined.

Holotype: ♂ "China, N.Yunnan, env. Xiaguan, 2400m, 29.vii.2002, leg. S. Murzin, I. Shokhin/ Coll. P. Pacholátko Brno Merhautova 68 Czech Republic/ 858 Sericini : Asia spec." (CPPB). Paratype: 1 ♂ “Pantian’ge, Weixi, Yunnan, 23.VII.1981, 2500m, light trap, leg. Liao Subai" (IZAS).

Description.

Length: 8.3 mm, length of elytra: 7.0 mm, width: 5.2 mm. Body oblong, reddish brown, antennal club yellowish brown, dorsal surface moderately shiny, nearly glabrous except a few long setae on head.

Labroclypeus trapezoidal, distinctly wider than long, widest at base, lateral margins straight and strongly convergent anteriorly, anterior angles moderately rounded, anteriorly weakly sinuate medially, margins moderately reflexed; surface slightly convex and shiny, basis without dull tomentum, punctation dense, small punctures mixed with coarse ones each bearing a long erect seta; frontoclypeal suture indistinctly incised, not elevated and distinctly angled medially; smooth area anterior to eye approximately 2.5 times as wide as long; ocular canthus moderately long (length = 1/3 of ocular diameter) and wide, with a few minute punctures and a few long setae. Frons shiny, with coarse and fine, dense punctures, densely covered with long erect setae. Eyes large, ratio diameter/interocular width: 0.82. Antenna with ten antennomeres, club with seven antennomeres, moderately reflexed, 2.5 times as long as remaining antennomeres combined; antennomere 4 subequal to two thirds of length of club, antennomere 3 half as long as pedicellus. Mentum elevated and slightly flattened anteriorly.

Pronotum subrectangular, widest at middle, lateral margins strongly and evenly convex, distinctly convergent anteriorly and posteriorly, before posterior angles deeply concavely sinuate, anterior angles sharp and moderately produced, posterior angles right-angled, very weakly rounded at tip; anterior margin convexly produced medially, marginal line incomplete medially; surface densely and coarsely punctate, only with minute setae; setae of anterior and lateral border fine and long but sparse; hypomeron distinctly carinate basally, carina not produced. Scutellum narrow and long, dull, with coarse, dense punctures, narrowly impunctate on basal midline, with minute setae.

Elytra oblong, widest in posterior third, striae weakly impressed, finely and densely punctate, intervals weakly convex, finely and densely punctate, punctures concentrated along striae, penultimate lateral interval with single long and fine, erect setae, otherwise with only very minute setae, otherwise glabrous; epipleural edge wide, ending at widely rounded apical angle of elytra, epipleura densely setose, apical border narrowly membranous, with a fine fringe of microtrichomes (visible at 100 ×).

Ventral surface moderately shiny, nearly dull, coarsely and densely punctate, metasternum moderately setose; metacoxa glabrous, with a few long setae laterally, posterior margin straight; abdominal sternites finely and densely punctuate, minutely setose, with a transverse row of coarse punctures each bearing a robust, long seta. Mesosternum between mesocoxae half as wide as mesofemur. Ratio of length of metepisternum/metacoxa: 1/1.4. Pygidium strongly convex and shiny, coarsely and densely punctate, with a narrow smooth midline, with a few long erect setae along apical margin.

Legs moderately slender and not very long; femora with two longitudinal rows of setae, finely and sparsely punctate, nearly glabrous; metafemur dull, anterior margin acute, immediately behind anterior edge with a continuously serrated line, punctures and setae of anterior longitudinal row complete, posterior margin in apical half ventrally smooth and not widened, posterior margin smooth dorsally, not serrated, with dense, short setae. Metatibia moderately slender and long, widest at apex, ratio of width/length: 1/3.6; dorsal margin sharply carinate, with three groups of spines, basal group at middle, median one shortly behind middle, and apical group at 4/5 of metatibial length, basally with a few robust but single setae; beside dorsal margin with a continuously serrated line being subparallel with dorsal margin 4/5 of metatibial length; lateral face longitudinally convex, finely and sparsely punctate, sparsely setose, without convex subdorsal longitudinal carina on lateral face; ventral margin finely serrated, with four robust nearly equidistant setae; medial face smooth, apex indistinctly sinuate interiorly near tarsal articulation. Tarsomeres with dense, short setae ventrally, not carinate laterally, smooth dorsally; metatarsomeres with a strongly serrated ventral ridge and a sharp subventral carina immediately beside it, first metatarsomere slightly shorter than following two tarsomeres combined and slightly longer than dorsal tibial spur. Protibia short, tridentate, basal tooth indistinct; anterior claws symmetrical, basal tooth of inner claw sharply truncate at apex.

Aedeagus: Fig. 2 I–K. Female unknown.

Diagnosis.

The new species differs from all species of the Neoserica septemlamellata group with a shiny dorsal surface and in shape of pronotum: its lateral margins are strongly narrowed towards base and concavely sinuate before posterior angles.

Etymology.

The new species is named with the composed adjective, pluri - (prefix from Latin plus, pluris - more) and lamellata (from Latin lamellatus - lamellate)

Variation.

Length: 8.3-8.6 mm, length of elytra: 6.9-7.0 mm, width: 5.2-5.8 mm.