Maladera aptera Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, 2021

Fabrizi, Silvia, Liu, Wan-Gang, Bai, Ming, Yang, Xing-Ke & Ahrens, Dirk, 2021, A monograph of the genus Maladera Mulsant & Rey, 1871 of China (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae: Sericini), Zootaxa 4922 (1), pp. 1-400 : 294-296

Maladera aptera Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu , sp. n.

Figures 69 E–H, 126

Type material examined. Holotype: ♂ “ China-Yunnan Habashan -Habashan Mts. 7.- 10.6.2002, alt. 3500-4000m WGS84 27°19’N, 100°08’E lgt. Becvar & Fouque R.+H./ 584A” ( ZFMK) . Paratypes: 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀ “ China: Yunnan; 1995; Habashan mts. , 2500-3800m 27.20N 100.11E; 3.-6.vi.; SE slope; S. Becvar leg.” ( CP) , 2 ♀♀ “China-Yunnan Habashan -Habashan Mts. 7.- 10.6.2002, alt. 3500-4000m WGS84 27°19’N, 100°08’E lgt. Becvar & Fouque R.+H.” ( ZFMK) , 1 ♀ “ China: Yunnan; 2,5-3,8km 27,20N; 100,11E Habashan mts. , SE slope, 3.-6.vi.; SE slope; lgt. S. Becvar, 1995” ( NMPC) , 1 ♀ “[ China] Yunnan; 3800-4600m 27.19N 100.08E Habashan mts. E slope, 15.7.92 David Kral leg.” ( NMPC) , 1 ♀ “[ China] Yunnan; 2000-3000m 27°20’N 100°11’E Habashan mts. , SE slope, 10.[-] 13.7.1992, D. Kral lgt.” ( NMPC) , 2 ♀♀ “[ China] Yunnan 2000-3000m 27.20N 100.11E Habashan mts. SE slope 10-13/7. Vit Kuban leg. 92” ( CP) , 1 ♀ “ China: Yunnan prov., 1.3-2.0 km S of Haba, 17.-20.VI.2007, Haba Xueshan Mts. , 2830-3000 m, 27°22.1‘N, 100°08.2‘E leg. J. Hajek & J. Ruzicka / individually collected on soil surface and on plants and shrubs, mixed forest (with dominant Pinus) near the brook (Ch32-35)/ XDA-1626” ( ZFMK) .

Description. Length: 10.6 mm, length of elytra: 6.7 mm, width: 6.1 mm. Body egg-shaped, black, shiny, nearly glabrous except lateral setae of pronotum and elytra and a few setae on head.

Labroclypeus transverse, trapezoidal, widest at base, lateral margins weakly convex and strongly convergent anteriorly, being nearly in straight line with ocular canthus, not incised laterally before labrum; anterior angles moderately convex, anterior margin weakly emarginate medially, margins weakly reflexed; surface weakly convex medially, densely and coarsely punctate, distance between punctures partly smaller their diameter, punctures rarely fused with each other, on anterior part intermixed with a few larger punctures bearing each a robust erect seta. Frontoclypeal suture finely incised, weakly bent medially; smooth area in front of eyes as wide as long; ocular canthus very short and wide (1/3 of ocular diameter), finely and densely punctate, with a short terminal seta. Frons finely and moderately densely punctate, with a few short setae beside eyes and behind frontoclypeal suture. Eyes very small, ratio diameter/ interocular width: 0.29. Antenna with ten antennomeres, club with three antennomeres, half as long as remaining antennomeres combined. Mentum convexly elevated, flattened anteriorly.

Pronotum moderately wide, widest shortly before base, lateral margins evenly moderately curved and convergent anteriorly, anterior angles sharp and distinctly produced, posterior angles strongly rounded; anterior margin nearly straight, fine marginal line widely lacking medially; surface with fine, sparse to moderately dense punctures, with minute setae in punctures, anterior and lateral margins with sparse and moderately long setae. Scutellum extremely short, triangular, nearly vanishing under pronotum, punctation not visible.

Elytra convex, widest at middle, humeri small, external apical angles strongly rounded, apex not truncate; striae finely impressed, finely and densely punctate; intervals weakly convex, finely and sparsely punctate, only with minute setae in punctures; epipleural margin robust and convex, ending slightly before external apical angle; epipleura finely and sparsely setose; apical margin chitinous, without a rim of microtrichomes.

Ventral face coarsely and densely punctate, moderately densely setose; mesosternum between mesocoxae as wide as mesofemur. Metasternum short, distance between meso-and metacoxae equal to width: of metafemur. Metacoxa glabrous, laterally with a few robust setae. Ratio of length of metepisternum/ metacoxa: 1/ 1.29. Abdominal sternites shiny, finely densely punctate, with a row of robust punctures each bearing a short seta. Pygidium apically weakly convex, coarsely and moderately densely punctate, punctures partly with a longitudinal impression, with a few robust setae at apex.

Legs long and moderately wide, shiny; femora finely and sparsely punctate, with two longitudinal rows of setae. Metafemur with acute anterior margin, without adjacent serrated line; posterior ventral margin almost straight, weakly widened in apical half, neither ventrally nor dorsally serrated but smooth, glabrous. Metatibia long and moderately wide, widest at apex, ratio width/ length: 1/ 3.18; dorsal margin longitudinally convex, with two groups of spines, basal one at first third, apical one at three quarters of metatibial length, with a few fine robust setae basally; lateral face longitudinally convex, with very sparse and fine punctures; ventral margin without serrate carina, with three strong nearly equidistant spines; medial face smooth and glabrous; apex interiorly near tarsal articulation shallowly and concavely emarginate. Tarsi in cross section circular, without lateral carina, impunctate dorsally, ventrally finely setose; metatarsomeres robustly setose ventrally, with a strongly serrated carina, subventrally with a second, smooth longitudinal carina; first metatarsomere distinctly shorter than following two tarsomeres combined and as long as dorsal tibial spur. Protibia moderately long, bidentate. All claws symmetrical, feebly curved and long, with normally developed basal tooth. Wings are reduced in length.

Aedeagus: Fig. 69 E–G. Habitus: Fig. 69H .

Diagnosis. Maladera aptera Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu , sp. n. differs from the related M. erlangensis Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu , sp. n. in the shape of aedeagus, in having the body black shiny, as well as lacking setae on the frons.

Etymology. The name of this new species (adjective in the nominative singular case) is derrived from the Latin adjective apterus (without wings), with reference on the lacking wings in this species.

Variation. Length: 9.6–10.6 mm, length of elytra: 6.4–6.7 mm, width: 6.0– 6.1 mm. Female: Eyes smaller than in male, ratio diameter/ interocular width: 0.27; antennal club half as long as remaining antennomeres combined; pygidium weakly convex

Distribution. See map ( Fig. 126 ) and Table 1.

Figures

FIGURE 69. A–D: Maladera erlangshanica Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, sp. n. (holotype); E–H: M. aptera Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, sp. n. (holotype); I–L: M. queinneci Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, sp. n. (holotype). A, E, I: aedeagus, left side lateral view; C, G, K: aedeagus, right side lateral view; B, F, J: parameres, dorsal view; D, H, L: habitus. Scale: 0.5 mm. Habitus not to scale.

FIGURE 126. Distribution of the Maladera erlangshanica group: Maladera aptera sp. n., M. breviclava sp. n., M. erlangshanica sp. n., M. pingchuanensis sp. n., M. queinneci sp. n., M. yunnanica sp. n. (not precisely localized collection site indicated by a “?”).