Serica (T.) huangjing Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, 2022

Ahrens, Dirk, Fabrizi, Silvia, Bai, Ming & Liu, Wangang, 2022, Taxonomic revision of Serica MacLeay, 1819 (sensu lato) from China and adjacent areas (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae: Sericini), with updates on Nipponoserica Nomura, 1972, Zootaxa 5186 (1), pp. 1-83 : 68-69

Serica (T.) huangjing Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu , new species

Figures 18A–D , 25

Type material examined. Holotype: ♂ “ Huangjing, Luzhou , Sichuan, 16.VII.2002, leg. Bai Ming, Wang Jianfeng/ LW-167/ 1146 Asia Sericini spec. ” ( HBUM) . Paratypes: 1 ♂ “ Mts. Mianxuling, Fanjingshan , Guizhou, 29.VII.2001, 1900m, leg. Dong Kangzhen ” ( IZAS) , 1 ♂ “ Sixiangping, Jiangkou , Guizhou, 1.VIII.2001, leg. Ren Guodong / LW- 141” ( HBUM) .

Description of the holotype. Length: 7.6 mm, length of elytra: 5.6 mm, width: 4.2 mm. Body oval, dark reddish brown, dull, elytra yellow brown with numerous dark spots, partly with greenish toment, ventral surface and legs reddish brown, antenna yellow; dorsal surface almost glabrous except some single and short, white adpressed setae on pronotum and elytra.

Labroclypeus subtrapezoidal, little wider than long, widest at base, lateral margins weakly convex and convergent anteriorly; anterior angles blunt; anterior margin deeply emarginate medially; margins moderately reflexed; surface weakly convex and moderately shiny, finely and densely punctate, partly punctures fusing to transverse wrinkles, with numerous erect setae; frontoclypeal suture finely incised, weakly bent medially; smooth area anterior to eye small and convex, 1.5 times as wide as long; ocular canthus short and slender (1/4 of ocular diameter), impunctate, with a short terminal seta. Frons completely dull and flat, with fine and dense punctures, with numerous fine and short, erect setae. Eyes small, ratio diameter/ interocular width: 0.53. Antenna with 10 antennomeres; club with three antennomeres, 1.2 times as long as remaining antennomeres combined and straight. Mentum strongly elevated anteriorly, flattened anteriorly. Labrum strongly produced along middle, narrowly but deeply emarginate medially.

Pronotum moderately narrow and subtrapezoidal, widest shortly behind middle, lateral margins evenly convex and convergent anteriorly and posteriorly; anterior angles weakly produced, sharp; posterior angles blunt; anterior margin straight, robust marginal line complete; surface irregularly, densely and coarsely punctate, along basal midline narrowly impunctate and medially on each side with a shallow impression, with minute setae in punctures otherwise glabrous; lateral margins sparsely setose; hypomeron carinate at base, not produced ventrally. Scutellum large, triangular, finely and densely punctate, with minute setae in punctures, on basal midline impunctate.

Elytra oval, widest at posterior third, striae finely impressed, finely and densely punctate; intervals flat, with fine, sparse punctures; with a few single, fine, short, white, adpressed setae on all intervals; epipleural edge fine, ending at moderately curved external apical angle of elytra, epipleura densely setose; apical margin narrowly membraneous, with a fine rime of minute microtrichomes (magnification 100x).

Ventral surface dull, finely and densely punctate, sparsely setose, widely glabrous; metacoxa glabrous, except a few short lateral setae. Mesosternum between mesocoxae half as wide as the slender mesofemur. Ratio of length of metepisternum/ metacoxa: 1/ 1.4. Abdominal sternites with a transverse row of coarse punctures, each bearing a long seta, otherwise glabrous; penultimate sternite at posterior margin with a wide membraneous rim being one third as long as sternite. Pygidium strongly convex and dull, dark, in punctures yellow, finely and densely punctate, smooth midline narrow, with sparse, long and short setae.

Legs slender, shiny, pro- and mesofemur dull; femora with two longitudinal rows of setae, finely and sparsely punctate between the rows. Metafemur shiny, anterior margin acute, without a continuously serrated line behind anterior edge; ventral posterior margin serrated and only weakly widened at apex, dorsal posterior margin completely serrated, in basal half with a few long setae which are half as long as metafemur width. Metatibia slender and long, widest shortly before apex, ratio of width/ length: 1/4.0; dorsal margin sharply carinate, with two groups of spines, basal group at middle, apical group at three quarters of metatibial length, basally with a few single, robust setae; external face densely and coarsely but superficially punctate, without longitudinal wrinkles; ventral margin serrated, with two widely separated robust setae; medial face finely sparsely punctate, glabrous; apex interiorly near tarsal articulation bluntly truncate. Tarsomeres ventrally with sparse, minute setae, dorsally smooth. Metatarsomeres ventrally glabrous, laterally weakly carinate, with a strongly serrated ridge ventrally; first metatarsomere little shorter than following two tarsomeres combined and little longer than dorsal tibial spur. Protibia moderately long, bidentate, external margin smooth but bluntly extended at middle; anterior claws asymmetrical, basal tooth of inner claw widened and sharply pointed at apex.

Aedeagus: Fig. 18A–C . Habitus: Fig. 18D . Female unknown.

Diagnosis. Serica huangjing Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu , new species resembles in shape of aedeagus to Serica sigipinensis Ahrens, 2009 . Serica huangjing differs by the strongly asymmetric parameres which strongly differ in length; their ventral lobes are finer while the dorsal obe of the left paramere is strongly bent laterally (dorsal view) before apex.

Etymology. The species is named (noun in apposition) after its type locality, Huangjing.

Variation. Length: 7.5–7.6 mm, length of elytra: 5.4–5.6 mm, width: 4.1–4.2 mm.

Figures

FIGURE 18. A–D: Serica huangjing Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species (holotype); E–H: S. hailuogou Ahrens, Fabrizi & 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 25. Distribution of Nipponoserica daqiao Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species, Serica hailougou Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species, S. huangjing Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species, S. kuankuoshuiensis Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species, S. limbourgi Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species, S. paralongipes Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species, S. pseudogracilipes Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species, S. smetanai Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species, S. taishun Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species, S. tianpingshanensis Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, new species.