New species and records of Sericini of India (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae) III
Author
Bhunia, Debika
Zoological Survey of India, M-Block, New Alipore, Kolkata- 700053, West Bengal, India.
Author
Gupta, Devanshu
Zoological Survey of India, M-Block, New Alipore, Kolkata- 700053, West Bengal, India.
Author
Chandra, Kailash
Zoological Survey of India, M-Block, New Alipore, Kolkata- 700053, West Bengal, India.
Author
Ahrens, Dirk
Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig Bonn, Adenauerallee 127, 53113 Bonn, Germany.
text
Zootaxa
2022
2022-11-01
5200
2
489
494
journal article
177058
10.11646/zootaxa.5200.5.6
c414a64b-c59f-4d36-a833-a53975dc9e4e
1175-5326
7271009
B45BC795-D27A-43A4-B212-1FADE9940BDE
Neoserica debasriae
Bhunia, Gupta, Chandra & Ahrens
,
new species
(
Figs. 5–8
)
Type
locality
.
India
:
Madhya Pradesh
,
Hoshangabad
,
Bori Sanctuary
,
22.752030N
,
77.734490E
.
Type material
.
Holotype
,
♂
: “
India
:
Madhya Pradesh
,
Hoshangabad
,
Bori Sanctuary
,
22.752030N
,
77.734490E
,
10.vi.1999
, leg.
K. Chandra
” (
NZSI
)
.
Paratypes
:
1 ♂
“
India
:
Madhya Pradesh
,
Hoshangabad
,
Bori Sanctuary
,
22.752030N
,
77.734490E
,
07.vi.1999
, leg.
K. Chandra
” (
NZSI
)
;
1 ♂
“
India
:
Madhya Pradesh
,
Hoshangabad
,
Bori Sanctuary
,
22.752030N
,
77.734490E
,
10.vi.1999
, leg.
K. Chandra
” (
NZSI
)
;
1 ♂
“
India
:
Madhya Pradesh
,
Hoshangabad
,
Bori Sanctuary
,
22.752030N
,
77.734490E
,
14.vi.1999
, leg.
K. Chandra
” (
NZSI
)
.
Description of the
holotype
, male
.
Body
. Length:
5.7 mm
, length of elytra:
4.6 mm
, width:
4.7 mm
. Body oblong-oval; dorsal face dark reddish brown and shiny; ventral face dark reddish-brown, dull; head moderately shiny, surface glabrous, except few single setae.
Head
. Labroclypeus trapezoidal, little wider than long, widest at base, lateral margins moderately convex and convergent anteriorly, anterior angles strongly rounded, anteriorly weakly sinuate medially, margins moderately reflexed; surface flat and shiny, densely punctate, glabrous fine punctures mixed with coarse ones each bearing a long erect seta; frontoclypeal suture distinctly incised, flat and distinctly curved medially; smooth area anterior to eye moderately wide, weakly convex, approximately 1.5 times as wide as long. Ocular canthus short and moderately narrow (1/4 of ocular diameter), finely and densely punctate, terminal seta absent. Frons with dense, but fine punctures and with a single, long seta beside eyes. Eyes moderately large, ratio diameter/ interocular width: 0.75. Antenna with ten antennomeres, club with five antennomeres and weakly reflexed, antennal club short, at maximum 1.2 times as long as remaining five antennomeres combined.
Mentum
elevated and slightly flattened anteriorly. Labrum distinctly produced medially, with a deep median sinuation.
Pronotum
moderately transverse, widest at base, lateral margins distinctly convex and weakly convergent anteriorly, anterior angles distinctly produced and slightly rounded at tip, posterior angles blunt; anterior margin convexly produced medially, with a marginal line widely interrupted medially; surface densely and finely punctate, punctures each bearing moderately long, erect setae; setae of anterior and lateral border sparse being twice as long as setae on disc; hypomeron basally distinctly carinate but not produced. Scutellum slender and moderately long, triangular with the apex slightly rounded, with fine, moderately dense punctures, with only minute setae in punctures.
Elytra
oblong, widest in posterior third, striae weakly impressed, finely and moderately densely punctate, intervals weakly convex, with sparse, fine punctures concentrated along striae, intervals with a very few fine white setae; epipleural edge fine, ending at moderately curved external apical angle of elytra; epipleura nearly glabrous, apical border with a very fine fringe of microtrichomes.
Ventral surface
dull, finely and densely punctate; metasternum densely covered with long setae on disc, glabrous on sides. Metacoxa glabrous, with a few single setae laterally. Abdominal sternites finely and unevenly densely punctuate, almost glabrous, with a transverse row of coarse punctures, each bearing a robust short seta; last abdominal sternite bearing a pair of minute tubercles medially separated from each other by the width of the metatibia.Mesosternum between mesocoxae half as wide as the slender mesofemur.Ratio of length of metepisternum/ metacoxa: 1/ 1.65. Pygidium weakly convex and dull, coarsely and densely punctate, without smooth midline, with a few semi-erect setae.
Legs
slender; femora with two longitudinal rows of setae, finely and sparsely punctate between the rows. Metafemur dull, anterior margin acute, behind anterior edge without serrated line; posterior margin in apical half ventrally smooth and only weakly widened, posterior margin dorsally weakly serrated, on its basal portion with a few very long setae being subequal to width of metafemur. Metatibia slender and moderately long, widest at apex, ratio of width/ length: 1/ 4.1; dorsal margin sharply carinate, with two groups of spines, basal group at one third, apical group at two third of metatibial length, basally without strong setae; lateral face longitudinally convex, very finely and sparsely punctate; ventral margin finely serrated, with three robust setae, with the apical one more widely separated; medial face smooth, apex moderately sinuate interiorly near tarsal articulation. Tarsomeres ventrally with protarsomeres smooth, meso- and metatarsomeres with a few very fine punctures. Metatarsomeres with a strongly serrated ridge ventrally, first metatarsomere a little shorter than following two tarsomeres combined and slightly longer than dorsal tibial spur. Protibia long, bidentate; anterior claws symmetrical, basal tooth of inner claw sharply truncate at apex.
Aedeagus
.
Figs. 5–7
.
Habitus
.
Fig. 8
. Female unknown.
Variation.
Paratypes
in morphology very similar to the
holotype
. Length:
5.7–5.8 mm
, length of elytra:
4.6 mm
, width:
4.6–4.7 mm
.
Diagnosis
.
Neoserica debasriae
Bhunia, Gupta, Chandra & Ahrens
,
new species
is also part of the
Neoserica speciosa
group (
Ahrens 2004
).
Neoserica debasriae
,
new species
differs from
Neoserica panchmariensis
,
new species
in the shape of the male genitalia: The phallobase is dorsally incised before apex (lateral view), a ventral phallobasal lamina is not present; the right paramere is more twice as long as the phallobase and twice as long as left one, without any dorsal teeth; the left paramere has no distinct basal lobe and is more or less straight (
Figs. 5–7
).
Etymology
. This new species (noun in the genitive case) is dedicated to D.B.’s late mother-in-law, Mrs. Debasri Datta, who has always encouraged her in every aspect of her career. Unfortunately, last year she passed away during Covid pandemic.
Distribution
(
Fig. 9
). Only known from the
type
locality.