Maladera mizoramensis, Sreedevi, Kolla, Speer, Jana, Fabrizi, Silvia & Ahrens, Dirk, 2018

Sreedevi, Kolla, Speer, Jana, Fabrizi, Silvia & Ahrens, Dirk, 2018, New species and records of Sericini scarab beetles from the Indian subcontinent (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae), ZooKeys 772, pp. 97-128 : 100-101

Maladera mizoramensis sp. n. Figures 1 J–M, 5

Type material examined.

Holotype. ♂ "India: Kolasib, Mizoram, 24°13'N, 92°40'E, 25.iv.2014, leg. K. Sreedevi/ 940 Sericini : Asia spec./ ICAR-NBAIR-S3" (NBAIR).

Description.

Length: 8.9 mm, length of elytra: 5.5 mm, width: 5.1 mm. Body oblong-oval, dorsal face dark brown, ventral face dark reddish brown, dull, head moderately shiny, except some single setae on head dorsal surface nearly glabrous.

Labroclypeus narrow and subtrapezoidal, widest at base, lateral margins straight and convergent anteriorly, anterior angles strongly rounded, anterior margin distinctly sinuate medially, margins moderately reflexed; lateral margin and ocular canthus produce a distinct angle; surface flat, finely and densely punctate, with a few larger punctures each bearing an erect seta; frontoclypeal suture indistinctly incised, evenly curved; smooth area anterior to eye weakly convex, twice as wide as long; ocular canthus short and moderately narrow (1/4 of ocular diameter), finely and densely punctate, terminal seta absent. Frons with dense, fine punctures, with a single long seta beside eyes. Eyes small, ratio diameter/ interocular width: 0.63. Antenna with ten antennomeres; club with three antennomeres and straight, slightly shorter than remaining antennomeres combined. Mentum elevated and slightly flattened anteriorly.

Pronotum transverse, widest shortly before base, lateral margins evenly convex and strongly convergent anteriorly, slightly convexly narrowed towards base; anterior angles distinctly produced and sharp, posterior angles strongly rounded; anterior margin convex, with complete but indistinct marginal line, base without marginal line; surface densely and finely punctate, punctures less dense on midline, with minute setae in punctures; anterior and lateral margin finely setose; hypomeron carinate, not produced ventrally. Scutellum wide, triangular, with fine, dense punctures, punctures less dense on basal midline.

Elytra widest at middle, striae distinctly impressed, finely and sparsely punctate, intervals slightly convex, with fine and dense punctures, with minute setae in punctures, odd intervals with a very few short and white setae; epipleural edge robust, ending at strongly curved external apical angle of elytra, epipleura sparsely setose; apical border of elytra membranous, with a fine rim of microtrichomes (visible at ca. 100 × magnification).

Ventral surface dull, coarsely and densely punctate, glabrous, metasternal disc sparsely covered with fine, short 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: 1/1.44. Pygidium moderately convex and dull, coarsely and densely punctate, without impunctate midline, glabrous except a few robust setae along apical margin.

Legs moderately long and wide, shiny; femora with two longitudinal rows of setae, finely and sparsely punctate. Metafemur with anterior margin acute, without adjacent serrated line, anterior row of setae reduced to a few single setae; posterior margin smooth, weakly widened at apex and smooth ventrally, not serrate dorsally, finely shortly setose. Metatibia moderately long and wide, widest at middle, ratio of width/length: 1/2.43, sharply carinate dorsally, with two groups of spines, basal group at middle, apical group at three quarters of metatibial length, with a few robust setae basally subparallel to dorsal margin; lateral face longitudinally convex, shiny, impunctate and glabrous; ventral margin finely serrate, with four equidistant long and robust setae; medial face smooth and glabrous; apex finely serrate, moderately truncate interiorly near tarsal articulation. Tarsomeres dorsally impunctate, glabrous, neither laterally nor dorsally carinate, moderately setose ventrally; metatarsomeres with a strongly serrated ridge ventrally and a smooth subventral longitudinal carina; first metatarsomere as long as following two tarsomeres combined and slightly longer than dorsal tibial spur. Protibia moderately long, bidentate; anterior claws symmetrical, basal tooth of both claws bluntly truncate at apex.

Aedeagus: Fig. 1 J–L. Habitus: Fig. 1M. Female unknown.

Diagnosis.

Maladera mizoramensis sp. n. is in the shape of the genitalia and in its external morphology similar to M. unguicularis (Brenske, 1898). The new species differs from M. unguicularis by the more elongate phallobase.

Etymology.

The name (adjective in the nominative singular) of the new species is derived from its occurrence in Mizoram state of India.