Paraserica camillerii Ahrens, Fabrizi, & Liu

Liu, Wan-Gang, Fabrizi, Silvia, Yang, Xingke, Bai, Ming & Ahrens, Dirk, 2017, New species of Nipponoserica and Paraserica from China (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Sericini), ZooKeys 721, pp. 65-91 : 72

Paraserica camillerii Ahrens, Fabrizi, & Liu sp. n. Figures 3 A–D, 5

Type material examined.

Holotype: "China: W Guizhou prov.; Leigongshan; Xijing; 29.v.-2.vi.1997; BOLM leg.; 1200-1900m/ 712 Sericini Asia sp." (CPPB). Paratypes: 3 ♀♀ "China, W Guizhou prov. Leigongshan, Xijing 29 May - 2 Jun 1997 1200-1900m, BOLM lgt." (CPPB, ZFMK), 1 ♂ "Mts. Leigongshan, Leishan, Guizhou, 2.VII.1988, 1700 m, leg. Zhang Xiaochun" (IZAS).

Diagnosis.

Paraserica camillerii sp. n. has distinctly asymmetric parameres with large basal lobes.

Description.

Length: 7.0 mm, length of elytra: 5.2 mm, width: 3.8 mm. Body including legs oblong, dark brown to grey-blackish, antenna yellowish brown, dorsal and ventral surface shiny and densely setose with double pilosity.

Labroclypeus subtrapezoidal and moderately wide, widest at base; lateral margins straight and moderately convergent, with moderately rounded anterior angles; lateral border and ocular canthus producing a distinct blunt angle; margins weakly reflexed; anterior margin nearly straight; surface flat and shiny, densely punctate, coarse punctures mixed with small ones; with long, dense, erect setae. Frontoclypeal suture indistinctly incised and weakly angled medially; smooth area in front of eye as wide as long; ocular canthus moderately short and narrow, finely and densely punctate, with a few setae. Frons with fine and dense punctures, with numerous short, adjacent setae and a few erect longer ones beside eyes and behind frontoclypeal suture. Eyes small, ratio of diameter/interocular width: 0.58. Antenna with nine antennomeres; club with three antennomeres, 4 times as long as remaining antennomeres combined, strongly reflexed. Mentum weakly elevated and flattened anteriorly. Labrum weakly produced and moderately sinuate medially.

Pronotum narrow, widest at base, lateral margins straight and subparallel in basal half, at middle moderately convex, again straight and strongly convergent in anterior half; anterior angles weakly produced but sharp; posterior angles right-angled; anterior margin straight, with a distinct and broad marginal line; basal margin without marginal line; hypomeron distinctly margined at base; surface with dense and fine punctures, with dense, double pilosity: numerous short setae bent backwards mixed with more sparse, long and erect setae; anterior and lateral borders densely setaceous. Scutellum narrow and long, with fine and dense punctures, with dense short setae.

Elytra oblong, widest shortly behind middle, striae distinctly impressed, finely and densely punctate; intervals weakly convex, with fine and sparse punctures, densely setose as the pronotum, long erect setae only on odd intervals; epipleural border robust, ending at strongly curved external apical angle; epipleura densely setaceous; apical border chitinous with a fine rim of short microtrichomes (visible at 100 × magnification).

Ventral surface shiny, with moderately dense, fine punctures, with dense short adjacent setae. Metacoxa completely finely setose as rest of ventral surface, laterally with a few longer setae. Abdominal sternites with fine, dense punctation and short fine pilosity, each sternite with a distinct transversal row of coarse punctures bearing a long seta; penultimate sternite simple. Mesosternum between mesocoxae as wide as mesofemur, with irregularly scattered, strong setae. Ratio of length of metepisternum/ metacoxa: 1/1.5. Pygidium basally shiny, apical half dull, moderately convex, finely and moderately densely punctate, without smooth midline, with dense, moderately long setae and a few longer setae adjacent to apical margin.

Legs slender, shiny; femora with two longitudinal rows of setae, finely and moderately densely punctate, shortly sparsely setose. Metafemur shiny, anterior margin acute, without a submarginal serrated line; posterior margin straight with a few strong setae medially, ventrally weakly widened in apical half and smooth; dorsally serrated. Metatibia slender and long, widest shortly before apex, ratio width/length: 1/3.8; dorsal margin sharply carinate, with two groups of spines, basal on shortly behind middle, apical one at four-fifths of metatibial length, basally with a few single spines; external face longitudinally convex, densely coarsely punctate, with dense short setae; ventral margin finely serrate, with four robust equidistant setae; medial face impunctate but coarsely punctate along the inner dorsal and ventral margin, punctures each bearing a fine seta; apex moderately truncate interiorly near tarsal articulation. Tarsomeres densely punctate dorsally, with sparse, short setae ventrally; metatarsomeres with a strongly serrated ridge ventrally; first metatarsomere distinctly longer than second, one third of its length longer than the upper tibial spur. Protibia moderately long, bidentate, protarsal claws symmetrical.

Variation.

Length: 7.0-8.1 mm, length of elytra: 5.2-5.6 mm, width: 3.8-4.1 mm. Female: Antennal club with three antennomeres, as long as remaining antennomeres combined; eyes as large as in male.

Etymology.

This new species is dedicated to the Sicilian writer, Andrea Camillieri, whose books accompanied D.A.'s work on Chinese Sericini over all the years.