Gynaecoserica exilis, Ahrens & Fabrizi, 2009

Ahrens, Dirk & Fabrizi, Silvia, 2009, A review of the genus Gynaecoserica Brenske, 1896 (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Sericini), Journal of Natural History 43 (25 - 26), pp. 1505-1584 : 1540-1542

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.1080/00222930902968809
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/0399C459-DB0F-6F7E-FE67-FA3D5A250B2E
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Gynaecoserica exilis
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Gynaecoserica exilis sp. nov.

( Figures 2P–R View Figure 2 , 7B View Figure 7 , 10A View Figure 10 )

Type material examined

Holotype. Ƌ “NE India, W-Arunachal Pr., Dirang vicinity, 1500–1800 m, 27°21–23¢ N 92°13 ¢–16¢ E, L. Dembický leg., 1.–10.v.2004 /18/04” ( TICB) . Paratypes. 4 ƋƋ “NE India, W-Arunachal Pr., Dirang vicinity, 1500–1800 m, 27°21–23¢ N 92°13 ¢–16¢ E, L. Dembický leg., 1.–10.v.2004 ” ( CA) , 29 ƋƋ, 38 ♀♀ “NE India, W.-Arunachal Pr. W of Bomdila ; 2600 m, 27°16¢N, 92°24¢E, 17.v.2005 L. Dembický leg.” ( CA, BMNH, TICB) , 58 ƋƋ, 48 ♀♀ “NE India, W-Arunachal Pr., Dirang vicinity, 1800 ± 100 m, 27°21¢ N 92°13 ¢–16¢E, 2006 P. Pacholátko leg., 8.–22.v.” ( TICB, CA) .

Description

Length 5.5 mm, length of elytra 3.6 mm, width 2.9 mm. Body oblong, dorsal surface yellowish brown with numerous small dark brown dots on pronotum and elytra, on each elytron with a large preapical blackish spot, frons and pronotum with some greenish iridescent shine, antenna and legs yellowish brown, dorsal surface dull, sparsely setose.

Labroclypeus subtrapezoidal, widest at base, lateral margins convex and slightly convergent anteriorly, anterior angles strongly rounded, lateral border and ocular canthus producing a distinct blunt angle, margins moderately reflexed, anterior margin shallowly sinuate medially; surface weakly convex medially and shiny, finely and densely punctate, distance between punctures less than their diameter, with a few coarser punctures behind the anterior margin each bearing a long, erect seta; frontoclypeal suture feebly incised and slightly elevated, strongly curved; smooth area in front of eye approximately 1.2 times as wide as long; ocular canthus short and slender, finely sparsely punctate, with a minute terminal seta. Frons anteriorly shiny, in posterior half dull; on anterior half with coarse and dense punctures, behind frontoclypeal suture with a few setae, posteriorly punctures finer and sparser. Eyes small, ratio of diameter: interocular width 0.55. Antenna yellow, with 10 antennomeres; club dark, with six antennomeres, 1.2 times as long as the remaining antennomeres combined, antennomeres IV half as long as antennomere III, almost cylindrical. Mentum weakly elevated and flattened anteriorly.

Pronotum widest in basal half, lateral margins straight and parallel in basal half, in anterior half weakly curved and convergent anteriorly, anterior angles distinctly produced and sharp, posterior angles blunt, anterior margin convexly produced medially, with a fine marginal line, basal margin without marginal line; surface with moderately dense and fine punctures, with only very minute setae in the punctures; anterior and lateral borders finely setose; hypomeron distinctly margined at base but not ventrally produced. Scutellum long and narrow, triangular, with fine and very dense punctures, narrowly smooth on basal midline, microscopic setae present in the punctures.

Elytra moderately long, widest at middle, striae feebly impressed and finely densely punctate, intervals almost flat, with fine, sparsely scattered punctures concentrated along the striae, punctures with microscopic setae, odd intervals with a few white single robust setae; interior apical angle of elytra with a robust seta; epipleural edge fine, ending at the strongly curved external apical angle of elytra, epipleura densely setaceous, apical border without short microtrichomes.

Ventral surface dull, with fine and moderately dense punctures, sparsely setose, metacoxa only laterally with a few robust setae; each abdominal sternite with indistinct transverse row of coarse punctures bearing short setae between fine, dense punctation, last sternite almost 2.5 times as long as the penultimate. Pygidium strongly convex, mixed with fine and coarse punctures, with a narrow smooth midline, fine punctures with small or minute setae, coarse punctures with longer ones. Mesosternum between mesocoxae as wide as mesofemur, with irregularly scattered very strong setae. Ratio of length of metepisternum: metacoxa 1: 1.5.

Legs moderately long; femora dull, with two longitudinal rows of setae, finely and sparsely punctate; metafemur moderately shiny, sharply margined anteriorly and without a submarginal serrate line, posterior margin weakly convex and glabrous, ventrally only weakly widened in apical half and not serrate, dorsally very finely serrate, with a few long setae. Metatibia moderately wide and moderately long, widest at apex, ratio width: length 1: 3.1, dorsally longitudinally convex at base but in apical half finely carinate, with two groups of spines, basal one shortly behind basal third, apical one at three-quarters of metatibial length, basally with a few single, fine spines in the punctures; external face longitudinally convex, with moderately dense fine punctures, glabrous; ventrally edged and serrate, with three strong equally distant spines; medially finely sparsely punctate, apex interiorly near tarsal articulation sharply and deeply truncate. Tarsomeres dorsally glabrous and impunctate, ventrally with sparse, short setae; metatarsomeres ventrally with a strongly serrate ridge, beside which is a fine longitudinal carina, first metatarsomere slightly shorter than the following two tarsomeres combined and slightly less than twice as long as the upper tibial spur. Protibia moderately long, bidentate, protarsal claws asymmetrical, basal tooth of internal claw bluntly truncated.

Aedeagus shown in Figure 2 View Figure 2 (P–R).

Variation

Length 5.5–5.8 mm, length of elytra 3.6–3.8 mm, width 2.9–3.1 mm. Female: protarsal claws symmetrical, with the basal tooth of inner claw sharply pointed, antennal club composed of three antennomeres, eyes as large as in male.

Diagnosis

Gynaecoserica exilis sp. nov. is in habitus and shape of aedeagus very similar to G. dirangensis sp. nov. It may be distinguished from that species by its lack of the lateral apophysis of the phallobase and by the much shorter parameres, which may be less than one-sixth of the length of the phallobase. It differs from the other Gynaecoserica species with asymmetrical protarsal claws by the ventral apical spine of the metatibia being sharply pointed apically.

Etymology

From the Latin word “ exilis ”, small, meagre, with reference to the very short parameres.