Maladera hongyuanensis 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 : 216-217

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

Figures 49 E–H, 114

Type material examined. Holotype: ♂ “ China, N Sichuan prov. 60km S of Hongyuan 27.- 29.6.1991, ca. 4200m J. Kalab leg./ 577 Sericini Asia spec.” ( ZFMK) . Paratypes: 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀ “Cina North Sichuan Songpan env. 30.5.-3.6.95 Benes ” ( ZFMK), 1 ♀ “ China N. Sichuan Songpan 17.- 18.6.1996 Benes & Slepar lgt.” ( ZFMK), 2 ♂♂, 1 ♀ “ China N. Sichuan Zhangia 14.- 17.6.1996 Benes & Slepar lgt.” ( ZFMK), 1 ♀ “Cina North Sichuan Zhangia 7.-10.6.95 Benes ” ( ZFMK) , 2 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀ “ China: SW Sichuan, Sabde, 3400m, N 29°04’16.8”, E 101°25’72.0”; 25.vi.2001, lgt. Janata M. ” ( ZFMK), 1 ♂ “ China, W Sichuan, Kangding Co. Gongga Shan Mts. -W foot of the 7556m peak, 3300-4500m 29°30’-39’ & 101°45’-46’ 13.-17.VI.2001 coll. L. & R. Businsky ” ( ZFMK), 4 ♂♂ “ China W-Sichuan V-2004 Sa’de enf., primary forest N29°36.4 ’ E101°22.9’ 3818m ( GPS) lgt. Häckel & Sehnal ” ( ZFMK), 1 ♂, 1 ♀ “ China, Daxue Shan Mts., Sichuan, 80 km W Kangding, 27.-29.vii.1999, 1700m, 30°02‘N, 101°40‘E, V. Siniaev & A. Plutenko lgt.” ( CP), 1 ♂ “ China-Sechuan Jitang 3.7.- 14.7.2001 lgt. E. Kučera ” ( CP), 1 ♂ “ China-Sechuan Sabde 24.6.- 28.6.2001 lgt. E. Kučera ” ( CP), 1 ♂ “ Houzhenzi, Zhouzhi, Shaanxi, 25.VI.1999, 1350m, leg. Zhang Youwei ” ( IZAS) .

Description. Length: 8.0 mm, length of elytra: 5.2 mm, width: 4.1 mm. Body oblong, blackish brown, antenna yellow, dorsal surface dull and densely setose on head, otherwise almost glabrous.

Labroclypeus shortly subtrapezoidal and wide, 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 weakly convex medially and moderately shiny, coarsely and very densely, partly rugosely punctate, distance between punctures less than their diameter, punctures partly fused, with numerous long, erect setae; frontoclypeal suture indistinctly incised and medially curved; smooth area in front of eye twice as wide as long; ocular canthus long and slender, very finely and densely punctate, nearly half of ocular diameter, with a long single terminal seta. Frons dull, moderately shiny, with fine and dense punctures, with a few short setae beside eyes. Eyes small, ratio of diameter/ interocular width: 0.48. Antenna yellow, 10-segmented; club with three segments, 2.5 times as long as remaining joints combined. Mentum convexly elevated anteriorly.

Pronotum moderately wide, widest at base, lateral margins in basal half slightly concave and weakly narrowed anteriorly, in anterior half weakly convex and strongly convergent, anterior angles weakly produced and moderately rounded, posterior angles right angled and weakly rounded only at tip, anterior margin strongly and convexly produced medially, with a distinct and wide marginal line, basal margin without marginal line; surface with dense and fine punctures, with microscopic setae in punctures only; anterior and lateral margins densely setaceous; hypomeron distinctly carinate at base, but not produced ventrally. Scutellum narrow and long, sharp at apex, with fine and dense punctures, medially narrowly smooth, microscopic setae present in the punctures.

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

Ventral surface dull, with large and dense punctures, sparsely and shortly setose, setae partly adpressed, 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 almost half as wide as mesofemur, with irregularly scattered fine setae. Ratio of length of metepisternum/ metacoxa: 1/ 1.41. Pygidium weakly convex at apex, finely and moderately densely punctate, without smooth midline, punctures with very minute setae, a few longer setae beside apical margin.

Legs slender and with shiny surface; 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 margin straight, with a few strong setae medially, only weakly widened externally in apical half and not serrated in distal half, internally not serrated, with short setae. Metatibia slender and long, widest at apex, ratio width/ length: 1/ 3.5, dorsally sharply carinate, with two groups of spines, basal group of spines shortly before middle, apical one at four fifths of metatibial length, basally with a few single fine spines in punctures; lateral face longitudinally convex, with a coarse and dense punctures; ventral margin finely serrated, with three fine, equidistant spines, medial face not punctate, apex interiorly near tarsal articulation sharply truncate. Tarsomeres dorsally glabrous and impunctate, ventrally with sparse, short setae; metatarsomeres dorsally without longitudinal impressions, ventrally with a strongly serrated ridge, without longitudinal carina immediately beside it, first metatarsomere little longer than the following joint and as long as than dorsal tibial spur. Protibia moderately long, bidentate, protarsal claws asymmetrical, basal tooth of inner protarsal claw widened but apically sharply pointed, a little longer than the narrow apical tooth.

Aedeagus: Fig. 49 E–G. Habitus: Fig. 49H .

Diagnosis. Maladera hongyuanensis Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu , sp. n. differs from M. gansuensis in the darker color (blackish brown, rather than reddish brown), the shorter first metatarsomere, as well as the wider parameres (lateral view) and the shorter and wider metatibia.

Etymology. The name (adjective in nominative singular case) of the new species is derived from the name of its type locality, Hongyuan.

Variation. Length: 7.8–9.7 mm, length of elytra: 5.1–6.4 mm, width: 4.1–5.4 mm. Female: Antennal club distinctly shorter than the remaining antennomeres combined; labroclypeus distinctly wider and eyes smaller: Eyes small, ratio of diameter/ interocular width: 0.38.

Distribution. See map ( Fig. 114 ) and Table 1.

Figures

FIGURE 49. A–D: Maladera gansuensis (Miyake & Yamaya, 2001) (China: Sichuan: Songpan–Nanping); E–H: M. hongyuanensis 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 114. Distribution of the Maladera gansuensis group: Maladera gansuensis (Miyake & Yamaya, 2001), M. hongyuanensis sp. n., M. shaluishanica sp. n..