Neoserica churachandpurensis Gupta, Bhunia, Ahrens & Chandra, 2025

Gupta, Devanshu, Bhunia, Debika, Ahrens, Dirk & Chandra, Kailash, 2025, New species and records of Sericinae from India and Nepal (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), Zootaxa 5613 (2), pp. 371-385 : 374-375

Neoserica churachandpurensis Gupta, Bhunia, Ahrens & Chandra , sp. nov.

( Fig. 1E–H )

Type locality. India, Manipur, Churachandpur , 24.3404N, 93.696E.

Type material. Holotype, ♂: “ India, Manipur, Churachandpur, Circuit House , 24.3404N, 93.696E, 19.v.1993, leg. M. Sil and Party ” ( NZCI). The holotype specimen bears additionally a red printed label with the following text: “ Neoserica churachandpurensis sp. nov., HOLOTYPE, Devanshu Gupta, Debika Bhunia, Dirk Ahrens & Kailash Chandra, Det. 2024”.

Description of holotype. Length: 6.4 mm, length of elytra: 4.7 mm, width: 4.2 mm.

Body. Shape oval, moderately convex; unicolored light reddish brown, entire dorsal surface shiny, glabrous except for a few setae on head.

Head. Labroclypeus transverse, widest at base, lateral margins strongly curved and narrowed anteriorly, clearly separated from ocular canthus by an obtuse angle, anterior angles strongly rounded, anterior margin shallowly emarginate medially, margins slightly reflexed; surface strongly convex, finely and densely punctate, with numerous, short setae. Frontoclypeal suture weakly incised, slightly curved, smooth area in front of eye about twice as wide as long, smooth; ocular canthus short and broad, finely and densely punctate, with a short terminal seta; frons finely and sparsely punctate, with a few erect, fine setae beside eyes and immediately behind frontoclypeal suture, punctures with setae somewhat larger than glabrous ones. Eyes moderately large, ratio ocular diameter/interocular distance: 0.76. Antenna with ten antennomeres, yellow, club in male with five antennomeres, as long as remaining antennomeres combined and straight, first joint of club a little shorter than club. Mentum anteriorly convexly elevated.

Pronotum moderately wide, widest at base, lateral margins from base to middle straight, weakly narrowed, convexly curved in middle, and slightly curved and convergent in anterior half, anterior angles slightly produced and sharp, posterior angles rectangular, marginal line of anterior margin robust; surface finely and densely punctate, with minute setae in punctures, otherwise glabrous; anterior and lateral margins with sparse, long setae. Scutellum broadly triangular, punctation as on pronotum.

Elytra widest at posterior third, striae finely impressed and finely punctate, intervals flat, sparsely and finely punctate, humerus near epipleural edge with a single, long seta, otherwise glabrous; apical elytral margin membranous, with wide rim of fine microtrichomes; robust epipleural edge ending at external apical angle of elytra; epipleura with long and sparse setae.

Ventral surface strongly, moderately densely punctate, with microscopic to fine setae, disc of metasternum densely and finely punctate, with long and dense, erect setae. Mesosternum between mesocoxae as wide as mesofemur. Abdominal sternites between fine, dense punctures with a transverse row of large punctures each bearing a robust seta. Ratio of metepisternum/metacoxa length: 1/1.44. Pygidium strongly convex, shiny, strong and irregularly densely punctate, apically with fine, long setae.

Legs short, meso- and metafemur moderately narrow, with two longitudinal rows of setae; metafemur wide, anterior margin sharply carinate, without adjacent crenulated line, fine, very sparsely punctate and glabrous, posterior margin straight and glabrous, neither ventrally nor dorsally serrated, posterior ventral margin widened at apex. Metatibia short and moderately wide, slightly narrowed towards base, subparallel in apical half, ratio width/ length: 1/2.85; dorsal margin sharply carinate, with two groups of spines, basal one at one third, apical one at three quarters of metatibial length, basally only with two additional, smaller bristles and with a very short, crenulated line; lateral face longitudinally convex, finely and sparsely punctate, completely smooth; ventral margin with four to five robust, equidistant spines; internal face smooth and glabrous, moderately concavely truncate interiorly near tarsal articulation. Metatarsi dorsally without punctures, ventrally with a serrated ridge and sparsely, shortly setose, metatarsomere 1 slightly shorter than following two tarsomeres combined and a quarter of its length longer than dorsal terminal spine, terminal spines of metatarsi short and strong. Protibia short and bidentate, distal tooth simple and moderately pointed, narrow and directed forward; protarsomeres narrow, ventrally normally setose, anterior claws symmetrical and normally developed.

Aedeagus: Fig. 1E–G . Habitus: Fig. 1H .

Female unknown.

Distribution. Species known only from the type locality.

Diagnosis. Neoserica churachandpurensis sp. nov. exhibits remarkable external and genital similarity to Neoserica assamensis (Frey, 1962) . Both species can be distinguished by subtle differences in their parameres: Neoserica churachandpurensis sp. nov. possesses a grooved right paramere with a notch, whereas the paramere of N. assamensis is straight ( Ahrens 2004; figs 229–231, p. 415).

Etymology. Neoserica churachandpurensis sp. nov. is named after its type locality (adjective in nominative case singular).

Figures

FIGURE 1. A–D. Maladera champhaiensis Gupta, Bhunia, Ahrens & Chandra sp. nov.; E–H. Neoserica churachandpurensis Gupta, Bhunia, Ahrens & Chandra sp. nov.; I–L. Maladera barasingha Gupta, Bhunia, Ahrens & Chandra sp. nov.. (A, E, I) Aedeagus in lateral view (left); (B, F, J) Aedeagus in dorsal view; (C, H, L) Aedeagus in lateral view (right); (D, H, L) Habitus, dorsal view. Scale 0.5 mm; habitus not to scale.