Microserica banlaoana Ahrens, Lukic

Ahrens, Dirk, Liu, Wangang, Lukic, Daniel & Bai, Ming, 2023, A taxonomic review of Microserica Brenske, 1894 from continental Asia (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae: Sericini), Zootaxa 5241 (1), pp. 1-115 : 49-50

Microserica banlaoana Ahrens, Lukic & Liu, new species

Figs. 17E–H , 29

Type material examined. Holotype Ô “ Banlao, Cangyuan , Yunnan, 17.V.1980, 1100m, leg. Gao Ping / LW-588” ( IZAS).

Description of holotype. Length: 9.0 mm, length of elytra: 6.4 mm, width: 5.2 mm. Body oval, reddish brown, antenna yellow, dorsal and ventral surface dull, labroclypeus and anterior frons shiny; dorsal surface glabrous.

Labroclypeus trapezoidal, distinctly wider than long, widest at base, lateral margins convex and convergent to moderately rounded anterior angles; anterior margin weakly emarginate medially, margins weakly reflexed; lateral margins and ocular canthus produce a blunt angle; surface shiny, flat, coarsely and densely punctate, entirely glabrous; frontoclypeal indistinctly incised, bent medially. Frons in anterior third shiny, with irregularly, moderately dense, fine punctures, being in dull part more superficial; with a few single setae beside eyes, otherwise glabrous. Smooth area in front of eyes flat, twice as wide as long. Ocular canthus wide and short (1/3 of ocular width), its external margin strongly convex rather than straight, densely coarsely punctate, with a terminal seta. Eyes small, ratio of diameter/interocular width: 0.52. Antenna with ten antennomeres; club composed of four antennomeres, straight, 0.9 times as long as remaining antennomeres combined, the first lamella of club only half as long as club. Mentum elevated and slightly flattened anteriorly.

Pronotum wide, widest at base, lateral margins weakly convex but strongly convergent to sharp, distinctly produced anterior angles, posterior angles blunt, well-rounded at tip. Anterior margin of pronotum convex, with robust and complete marginal line; basal marginal line absent; surface finely and densely punctate, with very minute setae in punctures, anterior margin glabrous, lateral margin sparsely setose. Hypomeron strongly carinate, strongly produced ventrally, deeply transversely grooved. Scutellum large and triangular, dull, finely and densely punctate.

Elytra oval, widest at middle, striae distinctly impressed, finely and densely punctate, intervals convex, with fine and moderately dense punctures concentrated along striae, glabrous; epipleural edge fine, ending convex external apical angle of elytra, epipleura densely setose, apical border membraneous, with a fine fringe of short microtrichomes (visible at ca 100x magnification).

Ventral surface dull, finely and densely punctate, metasternum on disc with long erect setae, otherwise 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: 1/1.27. Abdominal sternites finely punctate, with a transverse row of coarse punctures, each bearing a robust seta. Pygidium weakly convex and dull, with fine dense punctures, without smooth midline, with numerous longer setae along apical margin, otherwise glabrous or with minute setae in punctures.

Legs moderately wide and long; femora finely and sparsely punctate, with two longitudinal rows of longer setae. Metafemur shiny, anterior margin acute, without submarginal serrated line; anterior row of seta-bearing punctures reduced; ventral posterior margin distinctly widened in apical half and entirely smooth, dorsal posterior margin also smooth, with a few short setae basally. Metatibia short and wide, widest at middle but only weakly narrowed towards apex, ratio width/length: 1/2.58; dorsal margin carinate, with two groups of spines, basal group at anterior quarter, apical one at two thirds of metatibial length, in basal third with a few fine, single setae; lateral face longitudinally convex, finely and very sparsely punctate, glabrous; ventral margin finely serrate, with four equidistant setae; medial face smooth and glabrous, apex interiorly near tarsal articulation bluntly truncate. Tarsomeres with fine, sparse setae ventrally, neither laterally nor dorsally carinate, dorsally smooth; metatarsomeres ventrally glabrous, with a strongly serrated ridge ventrally, but without parallel subventral smooth carina; first metatarsomere little shorter than following two tarsomeres combined, almost twice as long as dorsal tibial spur. Protibia short, bidentate; anterior claws symmetrical, basal tooth of both claws bluntly truncate at apex.

Aedeagus: Fig. 17E–G . Habitus: Fig. 17H . Female unknown.

Diagnosis. Microserica banlaoana Ahrens, Lukic & Liu, new species is external appearance and in shape of aedeagus most similar to Microserica lampungensis Ahrens, 2004 from Southern Sumatra. Microserica banlaoana Ahrens, Lukic & Liu, new species differs by the less stout and bent phallobase (lateral view), and the left paramere being at base mesally not widened towards a basal lobe.

Etymology. The species name is derived from the name of its type locality, Banlao (adjective nominative singular case).

Figures

FIGURE 17. A–D: Microserica vipinglangensis Ahrens, Lukic & Liu, new species (holotype); E–H: Mic. banlaoana Ahrens, Lukic & Liu, new species (holotype). A, E: Aedeagus, left side lateral view; C, G: Aedeagus, right side lateral view; B, F: Parameres, dorsal view; D, H: Habitus (not to scale). Scale: 0.5 mm.

FIGURE 29. Distribution of the Microserica quadrimaculata group of continental Asia showing the entirely know distribution. The unlocated collection locality of Mic. viengvai Ahrens, Lukic & Liu, new species from Laos is not included here.