Paraserica mupuensis 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 : 72-75

Paraserica mupuensis Ahrens, Fabrizi, & Liu sp. n. Figures 3 E–H, 5

Type material examined.

Holotype: "China: Hunan; Mupu Mt. 1600m, Pingjiang VIII-2003, leg. Li et al." (ZFMK). Paratypes: 5 ♂♂, 15 ♀♀ "China: Hunan; Mupu Mt. 1600m, Pingjiang VIII-2003, leg. Li et al." (ZFMK), 1 ♂ "Jiugongshan Tongshan, S-Hubei, 1.V.2004, Leg Wen" (ZFMK), 4 ♂♂, 13 ♀♀ "China: Hubei, Dahongshan 1700m Shuizhou VI-2003 leg. Ying et al." (ZFMK, CPPB, IZAS), 1 ♂ "Mts. Tienmushan, 12.VI.1936, leg. O. Piel, Musee Heude" (IZAS).

Diagnosis.

Paraserica mupuensis sp. n. has distinctly asymmetric parameres and the phallobase on each side of its apex with a narrow process.

Description.

Length: 8.8 mm, length of elytra: 6.2 mm, width: 4.6 mm. Body oblong, head and pronotum including legs dark brown, elytra reddish brown, antenna yellowish brown, dorsal and ventral surface shiny and densely setose with partly double pilosity.

Labroclypeus subtrapezoidal and 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 distinctly sinuate medially; surface flat and moderately shiny, densely punctate, very coarse punctures mixed with small ones; with long, dense, erect setae. Frontoclypeal suture distinctly incised and weakly curved medially, slightly elevated; smooth area in front of eye 1.5 times as wide as long; ocular canthus moderately short and narrow, finely and densely punctate, with a 1-2 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: 0.64. Antenna with nine antennomeres; club with three antennomeres, 1.8 times as long as remaining antennomeres combined, strongly reflexed. Mentum elevated and flattened anteriorly. Labrum weakly produced and moderately sinuate medially.

Pronotum narrow, widest at base, lateral margins straight and weakly convergent in basal half, weakly convex and moderately convergent in anterior half; anterior angles weakly produced but nearly blunt; posterior angles right-angled; anterior margin weakly convex, 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 very sparse, long and erect setae, at disc pilosity partly abraded; 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 with short adjacent setae as pronotum, long erect setae absent on elytra; epipleural border robust, ending at strongly curved external apical angle; epipleura densely setaceous; apical border chitinous with a broad 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 shiny, in apical half strongly convex, finely and densely punctate, without smooth midline, with dense, moderately long setae and numerous longer setae adjacent to apical margin.

Legs moderately 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 with a few strong setae medially, weakly widened in apical half and smooth ventrally; finely serrated dorsally. Metatibia slender and long, widest shortly before apex, ratio width/length: 1/3.6; dorsal margin sharply carinate, with two groups of spines, basal on at three quarters of metatibial length, apical one shortly before apex, basally with a few single spines; external face beside dorsal margin longitudinally roof-like carinate, densely coarsely punctate, with dense short setae; ventral margin finely serrate, with six robust equidistant setae; medial face coarsely and densely punctate, 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, dorsal punctures partly extended to longitudinal wrinkles; first metatarsomere distinctly longer than second, slightly longer than dorsal tibial spur. Protibia moderately long, bidentate, protarsal claws symmetrical.

Variation.

Length: 7.8-8.8 mm, length of elytra: 5.8-6.6 mm, width: 4.2-5.0 mm.

Female: Antennal club with three antennomeres, as long as remaining antennomeres combined; eyes nearly as large as in male (ratio of diameter/interocular width: 0.55).

Etymology.

The new species is named after the type locality in Mupu Mountain.