Melolontha chinensis Guérin-Méneville, 1838

Gupta, Devanshu, Keith, Denis, Bhunia, Debika, Das, Priyanka, Ghosh, Joyjit & Chandra, Kailash, 2023, Review of Melolontha Fabricius, 1775 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae) from India with the description of two new species, Zootaxa 5263 (2), pp. 191-216 : 210

Melolontha chinensis Guérin-Méneville, 1838

( Figs. 7 , 19 , 47 , 59 )

Melolontha (Oplosternus) chinensis Guérin-Méneville 1838: 63 , pl. 232, fig. 3 (type locality: China).

Hoplosternus chinensis: Blanchard 1851: 158 ; Barlow 1899: 269 (catalogue); Dalla Torre 1912: 264 (catalogue).

Melolontha chinensis: Hope 1845: 13 ; Burmeister 1855: 410; Li et al. 2010: 344 (checklist), 343 (key), 345, figs. 2, 6, 9, 15 (dorsal view of parameres, additional material), 19 (caudal view of male genitalia, additional material); Bezdĕk 2016: 230 (catalogue).

Hoplosternus heydeni Moser 1913: 288 (type locality: China, Kiukiang); Li et al. 2010: 344 (as a junior synonym of M. chinensis Guérin-Méneville 1838 ).

Material examined. India, Arunachal Pradesh: Namdapha National Park, Miao , 3.xii.1982, 1♁, leg. S. Biswas [ NZSI]. 1♁, without locality data, labelled, Hoplosternus chinensis , det. Brenske [ NZSI] .

Diagnosis. Refer to the key to species groups.

Distribution. India: Arunachal Pradesh (new record); China ( Guérin-Méneville 1838) and Vietnam ( Dalla Torre 1912).

Remarks: Guérin-Méneville (1838) described this species from China with the following characteristics: body more or less flattened, elytra dark yellow with striae less marked, ventral portion black with dense and long whitish hairs, mesometasternal process straight, directed forward and rounded at the end, and antennae black, similar in both sexes. Dalla Torre (1912) reported this species from Tonkin ( Vietnam). Li et al. (2010, fig. 15) noted that the parameres in the chinensis group have sharply pointed dorsal processes, surpassing the outer margin. Our record of M. chinensis from Arunachal Pradesh, India, is quite distant from the known distribution range of this species. However, the parameres in the specimen we observed ( Figs. 47 , 59 ) are indistinguishable from the figures from Li et al. (2010, Figs. 15 , 19 ), and the general characteristics are similar to the original description.

Figures

FIGURES 5–8. Habitus of Melolontha species. 5, M. aeneicollis; 6, M. cuprescens; 7, M. chinensis; 8, M. nepalensis.

FIGURES 19–24. Pygidium of Melolontha species. 19, M. chinensis; 20, M. nepalensis; 21, M. carinata; 22, M. indica; 23, M. flabellata; 24, M. furcicauda.

FIGURES 47–52. Parameres of Melolontha species in dorsal view. 47, M. chinensis; 48, M. nepalensis; 49, M. carinata; 50, M. indica; 51, M. flabellata; 52, M. furcicauda.

FIGURES 53–64. Parameres of Melolontha species in lateral view. 53, M. guttigera; 54, M. virescens; 55, M. arunachalensis new species (holotype); 56, M. lachungensis new species (holotype); 57, M. aeneicollis; 58, M. cuprescens; 59, M. chinensis; 60, M. nepalensis; 61, M. carinata; 62, M. indica; 63, M. flabellata; 64, M. furcicauda.

FIGURES 13–18. Pygidium of Melolontha species. 13, M. guttigera; 14, M. virescens; 15, M. arunachalensis new species (holotype); 16, M. lachungensis new species (holotype); 17, M. aeneicollis; 18, M. cuprescens.