Maladera parobscurata 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 : 92-93

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

Figures 19 E–H, 96

Type material examined. Holotype: ♂ “ China S Sichuan 15km SW Pingchuan 3200m, 26.Jun 1998 M. Bocak lgt. 27.33N 101.49E / 828 Sericini : Asia spec.” ( CP) . Paratypes: 1 ♂, 1 ♀ “ China: N-Yunnan, Baiyungshan ( Rai Railing Mts. ) 2400m, Yong Ren, VII-2003 leg. Ying et al. ” ( ZFMK) , 1 ♂ “[ China] Yunnan 3000-3800m 27.20N 100.09E Habashan mts. E slope 13-17/7.92 Vit Kuban leg.” ( ZFMK) .

Description. Length: 6.7 mm, length of elytra: 4.5 mm, width: 3.8 mm. Body oval, dark brown, antenna yellow, dorsal surface dull, except some single setae on head dorsal surface nearly glabrous.

Labroclypeus moderately wide and trapezoidal, moderately shiny, widest at base, lateral margins weakly convex and convergent anteriorly, anterior angles blunt, anterior margin moderately emarginate, margins moderately reflexed; lateral margin and ocular canthus produce a blunt angle; surface flat, coarsely and very densely punctate, with numerous coarse punctures each bearing an erect seta; frontoclypeal suture finely incised, nearly straight; smooth area anterior to eye convex, as twice as wide as long; ocular canthus long and moderately wide (1/3 of ocular diameter), finely and sparsely punctate, with a terminal seta. Frons dull, with fine, sparse punctures and a few single erect setae beside eyes. Eyes moderately large, ratio diameter/ interocular width: 0.69. Antenna with ten antennomeres; club with three antennomeres and straight, 1.2 times as long as remaining antennomeres combined, antennomeres 3-6 as long as wide. Mentum elevated and slightly flattened anteriorly.

Pronotum moderately transverse, widest at base, lateral margins evenly convex, moderately convergent anteriorly, anterior angles moderately produced and nearly right-angled, posterior angles blunt, weakly rounded at tip; anterior margin convex, with fine and complete marginal line being interrupted medially, base without marginal line; surface finely and densely punctate, with minute setae in punctures, otherwise glabrous; lateral and anterior margin finely setose; hypomeron carinate, not produced ventrally. Scutellum wide, triangular, dull, with fine, sparse punctures.

Elytra widest shortly behind middle, striae distinctly impressed, finely and sparsely punctate, intervals weakly convex, with fine and sparse punctures concentrated along striae, with minute setae in punctures, otherwise glabrous; epipleural margin robust, ending at strongly curved external apical angle of elytra, epipleura densely setose; apical border of elytra membraneous, with a fine rim of microtrichomes (at ca 100x magnification).

Ventral surface dull, coarsely and moderately densely punctate, metasternum sparsely covered with sparse fine setae; metacoxa with a few longer setae laterally. Abdominal sternites finely and irregularly densely punctate, glabrous, each sternite with a transverse row of coarse punctures each bearing a robust long seta. Mesosternum between mesocoxae 1.5 times as wide as mesofemur. Ratio of length of metepisternum/metacoxa: 1/1.46. Pygidium weakly convex and dull, coarsely and densely punctate, without smooth midline, with minute setae in punctures and a few setae along apical margin.

Legs moderately wide and short, weakly shiny; femora with two longitudinal rows of setae, finely and sparsely punctate. Metafemur dull, with anterior margin acute, with continuous serrated line behind anterior margin, setae of anterior row very short; posterior margin smooth and moderately widened at apex ventrally, not serrate dorsally, with just a few short setae basally. Metatibia short, widest at middle, ratio of width/length: 1/2.75, sharply carinate dorsally, with two groups of spines, basal group at middle, apical group at three quarters of metatibial length, with a few short robust setae basally and a continuously serrated line beside dorsal margin from base to basal group of spines; lateral face weakly longitudinally convex, sparsely punctate basally, otherwise impunctate, with minute setae in punctures; ventral margin finely serrate, with four robust setae of which apical one is more distant; medial face smooth and glabrous; apex finely serrate, moderately truncate interiorly near tarsal articulation. Tarsomeres dorsally smooth and glabrous, neither laterally nor dorsally carinate, sparsely setose ventrally; metatarsomeres with a strongly serrated ridge ventrally and a smooth subventral longitudinal carina; first metatarsomere distinctly shorter than following two tarsomeres combined and as long as dorsal tibial spur. Protibia short, bidentate; anterior claws symmetrical, basal tooth of both claws bluntly truncate at apex.

Aedeagus: Fig. 19 E–G. Habitus: Fig. 19H . Female unknown.

Diagnosis. Maladera parobscurata Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu , sp. n. is very similar to M. obscurata , the new species differing in having much longer basal lobes on the right paramere.

Etymology. The name of the new species is derrived from the combined Greek prefix ‘ para -’ (close by) and the species name obscurata with reference to the similarity to M. obscurata (adjective in the nominative singular).

Variation. Length: 6.7–7.6 mm, length of elytra: 4.5–5.1 mm, width: 3.8–4.6 mm. Female: pygidium less convex.

Distribution. See map ( Fig. 96 ) and Table 1.

Figures

FIGURE 19. A–D: Maladera obscurata (Moser, 1915) (China: Yunnan: Haba Xueshan Mts.); E–H: M. paraobscurata Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, sp. n. (holotype); I–L: M. piceola (Moser, 1915) (China: Yunnan). 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 96. Distribution of the Maladera teizoana group: Maladera longruiensis sp. n., M. obscurata (Moser, 1915), M. parobscurata sp. n., M. saitoi (Niijima & Kinoshita, 1927), M. shengqiaoae sp. n..