Maladera dajuensis 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 : 249-251

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

Figures 58 E–H, 120

Type material examined. Holotype: ♂ “ China N-Yunnan 27°18’N 100°13’E Jinsha r. vall . 1900-Daju Hutiao gorge leg. D. Kral 15-17.VII.90/ 554 Sericini Asia spec.” ( NMPC) . Paratypes: 1 ♂ “[ China] Yunnan 2050m 27.18N 100.12E Jinsha riv. 15/6. Vit Kuban leg. 1993/ CS56” ( CP) , 1 ♂ “ China: Yunnan prov., 1.3-2.0km S of Haba, 17.- 20.VI.2007 Haba Xueshan Mts. , 2830-3000m, 27°22.1’N 100°08.2’E, J. Hajek & J. Ruzicka leg./ individually collected on soil surface and on plants and shrubs, sparse mixed forest (with dominant Pinus); in/near the brook” ( NMPC) , 1 ♂ “ China: Yunnan Tiger Leaping Gorge 2000-3100m, 10.-12.VI.1998 leg. S. Murzin ” ( ZFMK) , 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀ “[ China] Yunnan cca. 2000m 27.15N 100.09E Hutiao gorge Jinsha r. 18-22/7. David Kral leg. 92” ( ZFMK) , 3 ♀♀ “[ China] Yunnan ca. 2000m 27.15N 100.09E Hutiao gorge Jinsha r. 18-22.7.92. leg. David Kral ” ( NMPC) , 4 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀ “[ China] Yunnan cca. 2000m 27.15N 100.09E Hutiao gorge Jinsha r. 18-22/7. Vit Kuban leg. 92” ( ZFMK) , 1 ♂ “[ China] Yunnan 2000-3000m 27.20N 100.11E Habashan mts. SE slope 10-13/7. Vit Kuban leg. 92” ( ZFMK) , 1 ♂ “ China: Yunnan NW, 3600-3700m Yulongshan Mt. 14.-22.VI.1998 S. Murzin leg.” ( ZFMK) , 1 ♀ “ China Yunnan Haba mts. NE slope h= 2800-3000m 18.VI. leg. S. Murzin ” ( ZFMK) , 1 ♀ “ China, Yunnan prov. Daju- 50 km N Lijiang 27,21N 100,19E 21.- 27.6.1993 lgt. S. Becvar ” ( CP) , 1 ♂ “ China: Yunnan; 1995; Habashan mts. ; 2500-3800m 27,20N 100,11E; 3.-6.vi.; SE slope; S. Becvar leg.” ( CP) , 2 ♂♂, 2 ♀♀ “ China Yunnan, 27.-28.6. Daju , 27°21‘N 100°19‘E E. Jendek leg. 1992” ( CP) , 19 ♂♂, 8 ♀♀ “ China Yunnan 27.-28.VI. Daju , 50 km M Lijiang 27°21‘N 100°19‘E E. Jendek leg. 1992” ( NHMW) , 2 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀ “ China; Yunnan prov.; Heishui ; 16.-19.iii.1993; L. Bocak leg.” ( CP) , 1 ♀ “ China—Yunnan, Habashan—Habashan mts. 8.-11.+ 18.-19.vi.2004 alt. 2000-3150m, 27°20’N, 100°09’E lgt. Fouqué R.+H. (WGS 84)” ( NMPC) .

Description. Length: 6.7 mm, length of elytra: 4.6 mm, width: 3.7 mm. Body elongate, dorsal and ventral face including legs and antennae yellow, elytra shiny, head, scutellum, and pronotum moderately shiny, body shortly and densely setose.

Labroclypeus short and wide, trapezoidal, widest at base, lateral margins straight and strongly convergent anteriorly, anterior angles strongly rounded; anterior margin weakly emarginate medially, margins weakly reflexed; lateral margin and ocular canthus produce an indistinct angle; surface flat, rugosely and very densely punctate, with numerous erect setae anteriorly; frontoclypeal suture finely incised, curved; smooth area anterior to eye flat, three times as wide as long; ocular canthus moderately long and narrow (1/3 of ocular diameter), finely densely punctate, with a robust terminal seta. Frons moderately shiny, with very dense, fine punctures and single setae beside eyes and behind frontoclypeal suture. Eyes large, ratio diameter/ interocular width: 0.8. Antenna with ten antennomeres; club with three antennomeres and straight, slightly longer than remaining antennomeres combined. Mentum elevated and slightly flattened anteriorly.

Pronotum transverse, widest at middle, lateral margins evenly and strongly convex being convergent anteriorly and posteriorly, anterior angles produced and sharp, posterior angles strongly rounded; anterior margin strongly convex, with complete fine marginal line, base except around posterior angles without marginal line; surface very finely and densely punctate, distance between punctures less their diameter, with short setae in punctures being bent posteriorly, on disc with a few short erect setae as well; anterior and lateral margin with long setae; hypomeron not carinate. Scutellum narrowly triangular, with fine, dense punctures and short setae.

Elytra widest at posterior third, striae finely impressed, finely punctate, intervals densly punctate and shortly densely setose, odd intervals weakly convex and distinctly narrower than even, flat intervals, even intervals, dense setae bent posteriorly, odd intervals with a few single longer and erect setae; epipleural margin fine, ending at rounded external apical angle of elytra, epipleura densely setose; apical border of elytra with a fine rim of microtrichomes (at ca 100x magnification).

Ventral surface moderately shiny, coarsely and densely punctate, densely setose as dorsal surface, metasternal disc sparsely covered with fine, short setae, otherwise with fine adpressed setae; metacoxa entirely covered with fine adpressed setae, with a few longer and robust setae laterally. Abdominal sternites finely and densely punctate, punctures with short setae, each sternite with a transverse row of robust punctures each bearing a fine seta. Mesosternum between mesocoxae as wide as mesofemur. Ratio of length of metepisternum/ metacoxa: 1/ 1.59. Pygidium strongly convex, weakly shiny, finely and densely punctate, without smooth midline, throughout with a fine dense setae.

Legs moderately short and wide, shiny; femora with two longitudinal rows of setae, finely and sparsely punctate. Anterior margin of metafemur acute, anterior row of setae complete, without serrated line; posterior ventral margin smooth, weakly widened at ventral apex, dorsal posterior margin smooth, neither serrate, finely shortly setose. Metatibia moderately long and wide, widest at apex, ratio of width/ length: 1/ 3.4, sharply carinate dorsally, with two groups of spines, basal group at first quarter, apical group at three thirds of metatibial length; lateral face longitudinally convex, shiny, finely densely punctate, with numerous longer setae; ventral margin finely serrate, with five equidistant fine setae; medial face smooth and glabrous; apex finely serrate, deeply concavely emarginate mesointeriorly near tarsal articulation, ventral apical margin complete, at same level as dorsal one and not truncate. Tarsomeres dorsally finely densely punctate, glabrous, neither laterally nor dorsally carinate, moderately to robustly setose ventrally; metatarsomeres with a strongly serrated ridge ventrally and a smooth subventral longitudinal carina; first metatarsomere slightly shorter than following tarsomere and as long as dorsal tibial spur. Protibia short, bidentate; anterior claws symmetrical, basal tooth of both claws bluntly truncate at apex.

Aedeagus: Fig. 58 E–G. Habitus: Fig. 58H .

Diagnosis. Maladera dajuensis Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu , sp. n. differs from Maladera haba Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu , sp. n. in being slightly larger, the strongly rounded anterior angles of labroclypeus (weakly rounded as in M. haba ), the dense pilosity of the body, as well as by the shape of the parameres (compare Fig. 58 A–C with Fig. 58 E–G).

Etymology. The name of the new species (adjective in nominative singular) is named after the type locality, Daju ( China).

Variation. Length: 5.5–6.7 mm, length of elytra: 4.1–4.6 mm, width: 3.1–3.7 mm. Female: Antennal club distinctly shorter than remaining antennomeres combined; pygidium flat; eyes slightly smaller than in male.

Distribution. See map ( Fig. 120 ) and Table 1.

Figures

FIGURE 58. A–D: Maladera haba Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, sp. n. (holotype); E–H: M. dajuensis Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, sp. n. (holotype). A, E: aedeagus, left side lateral view; C, G: aedeagus, right side lateral view; B, F: parameres, dorsal view; D, H: habitus. Scale: 0.5 mm. Habitus not to scale.

FIGURE 120. Distribution of the Maladera haba group: Maladera dajuensis sp. n. and M. haba sp. n..