Nipponoserica henanensis 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 : 69

Nipponoserica henanensis Ahrens, Fabrizi, & Liu sp. n. Figures 1 J–M, 4

Type material examined.

Holotype: ♂ "China, W Henan, 15.V.-2.VI. Funiu Shan, Baotianman, pitfall traps, 33.5N 111.9E Jaroslav Turna leg., 2005" (ZFMK). Paratypes: 1 ♂, 3 ♀♀ "China, W Henan, 16.-18.V. Funiu Shan, 33°31'N 111°56'E Baotianman, pitfall traps, 1500-1750 m Jaroslav Turna leg., 2008" (ZFMK).

Diagnosis.

Nipponoserica henanensis sp. n. has distinctly shorter and more robust parameres than N. dahonshanica Ahrens, which are distinctly shorter than their basal lobe.

Description.

Length: 7.7 mm, length of elytra: 5.8 mm, width: 4.6 mm. Body oblong, yellow, frons blackish, labroclypeus and ventral surface dark brown, antenna yellowish brown, dorsal surface shiny and glabrous.

Labroclypeus subtrapezoidal and moderately wide, widest at base; lateral margins straight and moderately convergent with weakly rounded anterior angles, lateral border and ocular canthus producing a distinct blunt angle; margins weakly reflexed; anterior margin moderately but broadly sinuate medially; surface flat and shiny, finely and very densely punctate, with a few long, erect setae anteriorly. Frontoclypeal suture indistinctly incised and weakly curved medially; smooth area in front of eye twice as wide as long; ocular canthus moderately short and triangular, finely and densely punctate with a short single terminal seta. Frons with fine and dense punctures, with a few short setae beside eyes. Eyes small, ratio of diameter/interocular width: 0.52. Antenna with nine antennomeres; club with three antennomeres, 2.3 times as long as remaining antennomeres combined, strongly reflexed. Mentum elevated and flattened anteriorly. Labrum produced and deeply sinuate medially.

Pronotum narrow, widest at base, lateral margins weakly convex and weakly narrowed anteriorly; anterior angles weakly produced but sharp; posterior angles blunt; anterior margin strongly and convexly produced medially with a distinct and broad marginal line; basal margin without marginal line; hypomeron distinctly margined at base; surface with dense and fine punctures, glabrous; anterior and lateral borders sparsely setaceous. Scutellum narrow and long, well pointed at apex, with fine and moderately dense punctures.

Elytra oblong, widest in posterior third, striae distinctly impressed, finely and densely punctate; intervals weakly convex, with fine and sparse punctures concentrated along striae, glabrous except for a few short setae 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 dull, metasternum partly shiny, with moderately dense, large punctures, sparsely setose, only on metasternal disc with a few longer setae. Metacoxa glabrous, laterally with a few fine setae. Abdominal sternites with fine, dense punctation, each with indistinct transversal row of coarse punctures bearing a short seta; penultimate sternite with a shallow and short median furrow, apical margin of sternite tooth-like elevated beside furrow. Mesosternum between mesocoxae half as wide as mesofemur, with irregularly scattered, strong setae. Ratio of length of metepisternum/ metacoxa: 1/1.35. Pygidium shiny, apical half dull, moderately convex, finely and moderately densely punctate, without smooth midline, with sparse short 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. 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 serrate; dorsally serrated with short setae. Metatibia slender and long, widest shortly before apex, ratio width/length: 1/4.2; dorsal margin sharply carinate, with one group of spines (basal group of spines reduced) at five-sixths of metatibial length, basally with a few single spines in punctures; external face beside dorsal margin longitudinally roof-like carinate, sparsely finely punctate, with some longitudinal, superficial wrinkles; ventral margin finely serrate, with three fine equidistant setae; medial face impunctate but superficially wrinkled; apex bluntly truncate interiorly near tarsal articulation. Tarsomeres glabrous and impunctate dorsally, with sparse, short setae ventrally; metatarsomeres with a strongly serrated ridge ventrally and a fine longitudinal carina laterally; first metatarsomere distinctly longer than second, one third of its length longer than the upper tibial spur. Protibia moderately long, bidentate, protarsal claws symmetrical.

Etymology.

The new species is named after its occurrence in the Henan province.

Variation.

Length: 7.7-8.2 mm, length of elytra: 5.8-6.0 mm, width: 4.6-4.7 mm. Female: Antennal club short, slightly shorter than remaining antennomeres combined; eyes small, ratio of diameter/interocular width: 0.43.