Gynaecoserica obliqua, 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 : 1570-1572

Gynaecoserica obliqua sp. nov.

( Figures 5A–C , 8E , 9B )

Type material examined

Holotype. Ƌ “China-Yunnan 14.–21.6. 100 km W Baoshan , 1993 Gaoligongshan Nat. Res. E. Jendek & O. Sausa ” ( NHMW) . Paratypes. 2 ƋƋ, 4 ♀♀ same data as holotype ( NHMW, CA) , 2 ƋƋ “ China-Yunnan 14.– 21.6.1993 100 km W Baoshan, Gaoligongshan nat. res. E. Jendek & O. Šauša ” ( TICB, CA) , 1 Ƌ, 2 ♀♀ “ China; Yunnan prov.; Gaoligongshan mts. ; 90 km W of Baoshan; S. Becvar leg. 26.–29.v.1995 ” ( TICB) ,

9 ƋƋ, 23 ♀♀ “ Yunnan 2200–2500 m 24,57 N 98,45 E 8-16/5 Gaoligong mts. Vit Kubán leg. 1995” ( TICB, CA) .

Description

Length 5.3 mm, length of elytra 3.3 mm, width 2.9 mm. Body oblong, reddish brown, dorsal surface with dark irregular spots, antenna yellowish brown, dorsal surface dull, moderately densely setose.

Labroclypeus subrectangular, widest at base, lateral margins in basal half subparallel, strongly curved and convergent to the very strongly rounded anterior angles, lateral border and ocular canthus producing a distinct blunt angle, margins weakly reflexed, anterior margin very shallowly sinuate medially; surface weakly convex medially and shiny, finely and very densely punctate, distance between punctures less than their diameter, with a few coarser punctures behind anterior margin bearing long, erect setae; frontoclypeal suture indistinctly incised, medially moderately curved; smooth area in front of eye approximately as wide as long; ocular canthus short and moderately slender, finely and densely punctate, without terminal seta. Frons shiny, posteriorly dull, with fine and irregularly dense punctures, beside eyes with a few erect setae. Eyes moderately large, ratio of diameter: interocular width 0.52. Antenna yellow, with 10 antennomeres; club with five antennomeres, as long as the remaining antennomeres combined. Mentum weakly elevated and flattened anteriorly.

Pronotum widest at base, lateral margins in basal half straight and subparallel, in anterior half strongly curved and convergent anteriorly, anterior angles moderately produced and rectangular, 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, each puncture bears a minute seta; anterior and lateral borders thinly setaceous; hypomeron distinctly margined at base but not ventrally produced. Scutellum long and narrow, triangular, with fine, dense punctures, on base medially smooth, microscopic setae present in the punctures.

Elytra moderately long, widest in apical third, striae feebly impressed and finely and densely punctate, intervals feebly convex, with fine, sparsely scattered punctures concentrated along the striae, punctures with microscopic setae only, but odd intervals with single white setae, which are very robust and erect; 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 strong adjacent setae; each abdominal sternite with indistinct transverse row of coarse punctures bearing short setae between fine, dense punctation, penultimate sternite apically with a shiny smooth sclerotized border, which is one-sixth as long as sternite, last sternite medially almost as long as penultimate one. Mesosternum between mesocoxae as wide as mesofemur, with irregularly scattered very strong setae. Ratio of length of metepisternum: metacoxa: 1: 1.43. Pygidium strongly convex at apex, coarsely and moderately densely punctate, without smooth midline, surface dull, with a few erect long and short setae.

Legs slender and 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, its external part only weakly widened in apical half and not serrate, internally very finely serrate, with a few long setae. Metatibia slen- der and moderately long, uniformly widened toward apex, ratio width: length: 1: 3.3, dorsally moderately edged, only in basal third longitudinally convex, with two groups of spines, basal one at one-third, apical one at two-thirds of metatibial length, basally with a few single, fine spines in the punctures; external face longitudinally convex, with moderately dense and coarse punctures, glabrous; ventrally edged and serrate, with three strong equidistant spines, internal face finely sparsely punctate and smooth, 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 symmetrical.

Aedeagus shown in Figure 5 (A–C).

Variation

Length 5.0–6.0 mm, length of elytra 3.2–3.8 mm, width 2.8–3.2 mm. Female: antennal club with three antennomeres, distinctly shorter than the remaining antennomeres combined, labroclypeus a little stronger convergent anteriorly.

Diagnosis

Gynaecoserica obliqua sp. nov. is in size and habitus rather similar to G. pellecta Brenske. It may be differentiated from G. pellecta by the shorter antennal club having five antennomeres and by the wider apex of the aedeagus.

Etymology

Name derived from the Latin word obliquus, oblique, with reference to the oblique shape of parameres.

Figures

Figure 5. (A–C) Gynaecoserica obliqua sp. nov. (holotype), (D–F) G. rostrata sp. nov. (holotype), (G–J) G. schima sp. nov. (holotype), (K–M) G. seinghkuensis sp. nov. (holotype), (N–P) G. vogleri sp. nov. (holotype), (Q–S) G. ziyardamensis sp. nov. (holotype). (A, D, G, K, N, Q) Aedeagus, left side lateral view; (C, F, J, M, P, S) aedeagus, left side lateral view; (B, E, I, L, O, R) parameres, dorsal view; (H) parameres, subdorsal view. Scale bars 0.5 mm.

Figure 8. (A–F) Habitus of the species (not to scale). (G–K) Female genitalia (scale bars G,H, 0.5 mm; I–K, 0.25 mm), dorsal overview (G, H), sclerotized portion of ductus bursae, dorsal view. (A) Gynaecoserica nahangensis sp. nov. (4 mm; holotype), (B) G. singhikensis Ahrens (6.7 mm; paratype: Sikkim: Rangeli River), (C) G. tumba Ahrens (5.4 mm; holotype), (D) G. variipennis variipennis (Moser) (6.5 mm; Sikkim, Pemayangtse), (E) G. obliqua sp. nov. (5.3 mm; holotype), (F) G. vogleri sp. nov. (6.1 mm; holotype), (G, J) G. cymosa (Brenske) (Meghalaya; 9 km NW of Jowai), (H, I) G. lobiceps sp. nov. (paratype: West Garo Hills, Nokrek N.P.), (K) G. keithi sp. nov. (paratype: Meghalaya; 9 km NW of Jowai).

Figure 9. Distribution of Gynaecoserica species (A, upper panel; B, lower panel). “?” in (B) indicates the not precisely localized collecting locality of G. gisionensis sp. nov. in Vientiane province in Laos.