Melolontha cuprescens Blanchard, 1871

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 cuprescens Blanchard, 1871

( Figs. 6 , 18 , 46 , 58 )

Melolontha cuprescens Blanchard 1871: 811 (type locality: Tibet); Fairmaire, 1889: 19 (description); Bates 1891: 16 (diagnosis); Nonfried 1892: 286 (checklist); Dalla Torre 1912: 267 (catalogue); Arrow 1921: 13, fig. 5 (habitus, distribution); Mittal 1981: 35 – 40 (distribution); Chandra 1986: 88, figs., 52 – 54, 288 (distribution); Sabatinelli 1992: 615 (catalogue); Mittal 2000: 266 (distribution); Chandra 2005: 152 (distribution); Bezděk 2006: 194 (catalogue); Li et al. 2010: 344; Chandra ET al. 2012: 51 (distribution); Pathania et al. 2015a: 53, 54 (distribution); Pathania et al. 2015b: 131 (distribution); Bezděk 2016: 231 (catalogue); Sreedevi et al. 2017: 324 (checklist); Ghosh et al. 2020: 248 (checklist); Rana et al. 2022a: 281– 305 (description of grubs and adults); Rana et al. 2022b: 71–82.

Material examined. India, Uttarakhand: Garhwal, Govind Wildlife Sanctuary , 10.xii.2009, 1♁, leg. Manish Bhardwaj [ NZSI]. 1♁, without locality data, leg. Brenske [ NZSI] .

Diagnosis. Refer to species key.

Distribution. India: Himachal Pradesh ( Mittal 2000; Pathania et al. 2015a, b; Sreedevi et al. 2017; Rana et al. 2022 a, 2022b), Haryana ( Ghosh et al. 2020), Jammu & Kashmir ( Arrow 1921), and Uttarakhand (Chandra et al. 2012); China (Tibet) ( Blanchard 1871).

Host plant. Potato ( Chandel et al. 2015).

Figures

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

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.

FIGURES 41–46. Parameres of Melolontha species in dorsal view. 41, M. guttigera; 42, M. virescens; 43, M. arunachalensis new species (holotype); 44, M. lachungensis new species (holotype); 45, M. aeneicollis; 46, M. cuprescens.

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.