Maladera breviclava 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 : 297-299

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

Figures 70 A–D, 126

Type material examined. Holotype: ♂ “ China: N Yunnan 2700m, Lijiang 27.-29.VI.96/ 551 Sericini Asia spec.” ( ZFMK) . Paratypes: 1 ♂ “[ China] Yunnan 3000m 27.05N 100.15E Yulongshan mts. Ganhaizi pass 4.7.92 David Kral leg. ( NMPC), 1 ♂ “ China N-Yunnan 27°08’N 100°14’E Yulongshan mts. 2900-3500m Baishui vill. Leg. D. Kral 7.-12.VII.90” ( NMPC) , 1 ♂ “ China: Yunnan province, 26km N Lijiang, 15.VI.2007 Ganhaizi pass 27°07.1’N 100°14.9’E, 3000m, J. Hajek & J. Ruzicka leg./ individually collected under stones, on soil surface and on plants and dense shrubs, sparse coniferous forest (with dominant Pinus)” ( NMPC) .

Description. Length: 14.2 mm, length of elytra: 9.6 mm, width: 7.7 mm. Body long-oval, dark blackish brown, antenna yellowish brown, dorsal surface dull, tibiae and tarsi shiny, nearly glabrous except lateral setae of pronotum and elytra as well as a few erect setae on head.

Labroclypeus moderately transverse, trapezoidal, widest at base, lateral margins straight and strongly convergent anteriorly, producing a blunt and indistinct angle 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, rugosely and coarsely punctate, distance between punctures smaller than their diameter, punctures partly fused with each other and intermixed with numerous large 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 one or two terminal setae. Frons finely and moderately densely punctate, with numerous larger punctures bearing each an erect seta. Eyes very small, ratio diameter/ interocular width: 0.41. Antenna with ten antennomeres, club with three antennomeres, 0.7 times as long as remaining antennomeres combined. Mentum convexly elevated, flattened anteriorly.

Pronotum moderately wide, widest at base, lateral margins evenly moderately curved and convergent anteriorly, anterior angles sharp and distinctly produced, posterior angles blunt and moderately rounded in tip; anterior margin nearly straight, fine marginal line widely lacking medially; surface with fine, dense punctures, with minute setae in punctures, anterior and lateral margins with sparse and long setae. Scutellum moderately short, triangular, punctation fine and very dense, glabrous.

Elytra oblong, widest at apical third, humeri well developed, external apical angles rounded, apex not truncate; striae finely impressed, finely and densely punctate; odd intervals weakly convex with fine and moderately dense puntcures concentrated along striae, even intervals flat, with fine, dense and even punctation, penultimate lateral interval with a few single long setae, otherwise only with minute setae in punctures; epipleural margin robust and sharp, ending at external apical angle; epipleura finely and sparsely setose; apical margin membraneous, with avery fine rim of microtrichomes.

Ventral face coarsely and densely punctate, moderately densely setose; mesosternum between mesocoxae as wide as mesofemur. Metasternum long, distance between meso-and metacoxae distinctly larger than width: of metafemur. Metacoxa glabrous, laterally with a few robust setae. Ratio of length of metepisternum/ metacoxa: 1/ 1.36. Abdominal sternites dull, finely densely punctate, with a row of robust punctures each bearing a short seta. Pygidium apically weakly convex, finely and densely punctate, with minute setae in punctures, 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, shortly setose. Metatibia long and moderately wide, widest at apex, ratio width/ length: 1/ 3.4; dorsal margin weakly carinate in apical half, with two groups of spines, basal one shortly before the middle, apical one at three quarters of metatibial length, with a few fine robust setae basally; lateral face longitudinally convex, with coarse and moderately dense punctures; ventral margin with smooth carina and four strong equidistant spines; medial face finely irregularly punctate, punctures with minute setae; apex interiorly near tarsal articulation shallowly and concavely emarginate. Tarsi in cross section circular, without lateral carina, nearly punctate dorsally, ventrally finely setose, mesotarsomeres with a few short setae also on dorsal face; metatarsomeres glabrous ventrally, with a strongly serrated carina, subventrally with a second, smooth longitudinal carina; first metatarsomere little longer than following tarsomere and slightly longer than dorsal tibial spur. Protibia moderately long, bidentate. All claws symmetrical, feebly curved and long, with normally developed basal tooth.

Aedeagus: Fig. 70 A–C. Habitus: Fig. 70D . Female unknown.

Diagnosis. Maladera breviclava Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu , sp. n. resembles M. erlangensis Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu , sp. n. in shape of the aedeagus, differing from the latter being larger, having a more elongate shape, and possessing fully developed metathoracic wings.

Etymology. The name of this new species (adjective in the nominative singular) is combined from the Latin words brevis (short) and clavus (club), with reference on the short antennal club of the species.

Variation. Length: 12.9–14.2 mm, length of elytra: 9.2–9.6 mm, width: 7.5–7.7 mm.

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

Figures

FIGURE 70. A–D: Maladera breviclava Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, sp. n. (holotype); E–H: M. pingchuanensis Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, sp. n. (holotype); I–L: M. yunnanica 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 “?”).