Maladera yangi 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 : 217-218

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

Figures 50 A–D, 115

Type material examined. Holotype: ♂ “China-Shaanxi; S Taibashan Tsinling Mts. ; Houzhenzi vill.; 33°53’N 107°49’E; 15.viii.-15.x. local collector leg.; 1999; 1600m / 589 Sericini Asia spec.” ( ZFMK) . Paratypes: 1 ♂ “China, SW Shaanxi, for. Park Liping, 32°47’N 106°40’E Micang Shan, 1500-1600m Jatua leg., 19.V.-5.VII.2014 ” ( ZFMK) , 4 ♂♂ “ China, Shaanxi, Tsingling Mts.; South Taibashan, 1400m, Houzhenzi , 33°51’N 107°49’E; x.1999, leg. by local collector” ( CP) , 2 ♂♂ “ China-Shaanxi, Tsingling Mts.; Houzhenzi vill., 33°53’N 107°49’E; 15.viii.- 15.x. local collector leg.; 1999, 1600m ” ( CP) , 2 ♂♂ “ China, Shaanxi, Tsingling Mts., 1600m, Nat. Res. Foping , 33°51’N, 107°57’E, 20.iv.-11. v.1999, V. Siniaev & A. Plutenko lgt.” ( CP) , 8 ♂♂ “ China, Shaanxi, Panda area, Nat. Res. Foping , 1600 m, 6-11.iv.1999, 33°45’N, 107°48’E, V. Siniaev & A. Plutenko ” ( CP, ZFMK) , 1 ♂ “X-DA3638/ X-DA3638 China S-Shaanxi Micang Shan , 40km SW Hanzhong, 1530m, 32°52’25’’N, 106°37’11’’E 16.vii.2012 V. Assing Serica gansuensis gr_sp” ( ZFMK) , 1 ♀ “X-DA3639/ X-DA3639 China S-Shaanxi Micang Shan , 40km SW Hanzhong, 1530m, 32°52’25’’N, 106°37’11’’E 16.vii.2012 V. Assing Serica gansuensis gr_sp” ( ZFMK) .

Redescription. Length: 8.6 mm, length of elytra: 6.0 mm, width: 4.8 mm. Body oblong, reddish brown, antenna yellow, dorsal surface dull and almost glabrous.

Labroclypeus shortly subtrapezoidal, widest at base, lateral margins straight and moderately convergent to weakly rounded anterior angles, lateral margin and ocular canthus producing a distinct blunt angle, margins weakly reflexed, anterior margin weakly emarginate medially; surface flat and moderately shiny, coarsely and very densely punctate, distance between punctures less than their diameter, punctures partly fused, with a few long, erect setae; frontoclypeal suture feebly incised and weakly angled medially; smooth area in front of eye 1.5 times as wide as long; ocular canthus long and slender, very finely and sparsely punctate, terminal seta absent. Frons dull, in anterior quarter shiny, with fine and somewhat irregularly scattered moderately dense punctures, with numerous short setae. Eyes moderately large, ratio of diameter/ interocular width: 0.61. Antenna yellow, composed of ten antennomeres; club with three antennomeres, 2.5 times as long as remaining antennomeres combined. Mentum convexly elevated anteriorly.

Pronotum moderately wide, widest at base, lateral margins straight and subparallel in basal half, in anterior half moderately curved and convergent, anterior angles moderately produced and sharp, posterior angles right angled and weakly rounded in tip; anterior margin convex, with a medially widely interrupted marginal line, basal margin without marginal line; surface with dense and fine punctures, glabrous except minute setae in punctures; anterior and lateral margins sparsely setose; hypomeron distinctly carinate at base. Scutellum narrow and long, with fine and moderately dense punctures.

Elytra oblong, widest in posterior third, striae distinctly impressed and finely densely punctate, intervals weakly convex and not densely punctate, punctures concentrated along striae, odd intervals with some single fine setae; epipleural margin robust, ending at strongly curved external apical angle of elytra, epipleura densely setose; apical border membraneous, with short microtrichomes.

Ventral surface dull, with large and dense punctures, sparsely setose; metacoxa glabrous, laterally with fine setae. Each abdominal sternite with indistinct transversal row of coarse punctures bearing short setae between fine and moderately dense punctation. Mesosternum between mesocoxae as wide as mesofemur. Ratio of length of metepisternum/ metacoxa: 1/ 1.41. Pygidium missing in holotype.

Legs slender; femora with two longitudinal rows of setae, finely and moderately densely punctate; metafemur ventrally dull, sharply margined anteriorly and without a submarginal serrated line, posterior ventral margin straight, with a few strong setae medially, only weakly widened ventrally in apical half and not serrated, posterior dorsal margin not serrated, with short setae. Metatibia slender and long, widest at apex, ratio width/ length: 1/ 3.7, dorsally sharply carinate, with two groups of spines, the basal group of spines shortly at half, apical one at three quarters of metatibial length, basally with a few single fine spines in punctures; lateral face longitudinally convex, with a fine sparse punctures; ventral margin finely serrated, with four equidistant spines; medial face impunctate, apex interiorly near tarsal articulation concave. Tarsomeres dorsally glabrous and impunctate, ventrally with sparse, short setae; metatarsomeres ventrally with a strongly serrated ridge, without subventral longitudinal carina; first metatarsomere distinctly longer than following joint and one third of its length longer than dorsal tibial spur. Protibia moderately long, bidentate; protarsal claws symmetrical.

Aedeagus: Fig. 50 A–C. Habitus: Fig. 50D .

Diagnosis. Maladera yangi Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu , sp. n. differs from the similar M. gansuensis in having the frons setose, as well as in the shape of parameres: the right paramere is bent at middle (lateral view), while in M. gansuensis , the ventral margin (lateral view) is more or less straight.

Etymology. The new species is named after Prof. Xing-ke Yang (noun in genitive singular case).

Variation. Length: 7.9–9.4 mm, length of elytra: 6.0– 7.1 mm, width: 4.6–5.1 mm. Female: eyes distinctly smaller than in male, ratio of diameter/interocular width: 0.48; antennal club with three antennomeres, shorter than remaining antennomeres combined; pygidium weakly convex.

Distribution. See map ( Fig. 115 ) and Table 1.

Figures

FIGURE 50. A–D: Maladera yangi Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, sp. n. (holotype); E–H: M. shaluishanica Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, sp. n. (holotype); I–L: M. houzhenziensis 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 115. Distribution of the Maladera gansuensis group: Maladera houzhenziensis sp. n. and M. yangi sp. n..