Maladera chenzhouana 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 : 21-22

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

Figures 2 E–H, 83

Type material examined. Holotype: ♂ “ China: Hunan S Chenzhou env. 25.49N 112.59E 19–21.V.1994 / 725 Sericini Asia spec.” ( NHMW).

Description. Length: 9.5 mm, length of elytra: 6.4 mm, width: 5.2 mm. Body oblong, blackish brown, antenna yellowish, surface dull, labroclypeus and anterior frons shiny, except a few short setae on head and sides of elytra, glabrous.

Labroclypeus wide and subtrapezoidal, widest at base, lateral margins convex and convergent anteriorly, anterior angles moderately rounded; anterior margin weakly emarginate medially; margins moderately reflexed; lateral margin and ocular canthus produce an indistinct angle; surface convex, coarsely, densely punctate, with a few single erect setae on anterior third; frontoclypeal suture finely incised, angled medially; smooth area anterior to eye convex, 2.5 times as wide as long; ocular canthus short and narrow (1/3 of ocular diameter), finely densely punctate, terminal seta present. Frons posteriorly dull, with moderately dense, irregular, fine punctures, with a few single setae beside eyes. Eyes moderately large, ratio diameter/ interocular width: 0.63. Antenna with ten antennomeres; club with three antennomeres and straight, 1.1 times as long as remaining antennomeres combined. Mentum elevated and slightly flattened anteriorly.

Pronotum narrow, widest at base, lateral margins in basal half straight and convergent anteriorly, in anterior half moderately evenly convex, moderately convergent anteriorly, anterior angles distinctly produced and sharp, posterior angles blunt; anterior margin weakly convex, with fine marginal line being medially widely interrupted, base without marginal line; surface finely and densely punctate, with minute setae in punctures; anterior and lateral margin finely setose; hypomeron carinate, not produced ventrally. Scutellum wide, triangular, with fine and dense punctures.

Elytra widest at posterior third, striae finely impressed, finely and densely punctate, intervals flat, with fine, moderately dense punctures, odd intervals with a few single short, erect setae, otherwise with minute setae in punctures; epipleural margin robust, ending at convex external apical angle of elytra, epipleura sparsely setose; apical border of elytra membraneous, with a fine rim of microtrichomes (visible at ca 100x magnification).

Ventral surface dull, finely and densely punctate, with dense and fine, adpressed setae, metasternal disc sparsely covered with longer setae; metacoxa with a few longer setae laterally. Abdominal sternites finely and densely punctate, glabrous, each sternite with a transverse row of punctures each bearing a fine seta. Mesosternum between mesocoxae as wide as mesofemur. Ratio of length of metepisternum/metacoxa: 1/1.23. Pygidium weakly convex, dull, finely and densely punctate, without smooth midline, with short setae throughout and a few long setae along apical margin.

Legs moderately long and wide; femora shiny, with two longitudinal rows of setae, finely and sparsely punctate. Anterior margin of metafemur acute, with adjacent serrated line; posterior ventral margin smooth, not widened at apex, dorsal posterior margin smooth, neither serrate, glabrous. Metatibia long and moderately wide, widest at middle, ratio of width/length: 1/3.36, sharply carinate dorsally, with two groups of spines, basal group shortly behind middle, apical group at four fifths of metatibial length, in basal half with a serrated line beside dorsal margin and few short single spines close to dorsal margin; lateral face longitudinally convex, finely sparsely punctate, glabrous; ventral margin finely serrate, with three robust setae of which the distal one is more distant; medial face smooth and glabrous; apex finely serrate, shallowly emarginate interiorly near tarsal articulation. Tarsomeres dorsally impunctate, glabrous, neither laterally nor dorsally carinate, moderately setose ventrally; metatarsomeres glabrous and with a strongly serrated ridge ventrally and a smooth subventral longitudinal carina; first metatarsomere slightly shorter than following two tarsomeres combined and as long as dorsal tibial spur. Protibia moderately long, bidentate; anterior claws symmetrical, basal tooth of both claws bluntly truncate at apex.

Aedeagus: Fig. 2 E–G. Habitus: Fig. 2H . Female unknown.

Diagnosis. Maladera chenzhouana Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu , sp. n. is very similar to M. motschulskyi (Brenske) , but differs from the latter by the shape of parameres: the lateral tooth of the right paramere is situated more basally, and the right paramere is more strongly bent at middle.

Etymology. The new species is named (adjective in the nominative singular case) after its type locality, Chenzhou.

Distribution. See map ( Fig. 83 ) and Table 1.

Figures

FIGURE 2. A–D: Maladera motschulskyi (Brenske, 1897) (Korea); E–H: M. chenzhouana 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 83. Distribution of the subgenus Maladera: Maladera holosericea (Scopoli, 1772), M. motschulskyi (Brenske, 1897), M. renardi (Ballion, 1870), M. spissigrada (Brenske, 1897), M. chenzhouana sp. n..