Maladera tongzhongensis 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 : 243-244

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

Figures 56 E–H, 119

Type material examined. Holotype: ♂ “[ China] Tongzhongxiang, Fangcheng , Guangxi, 5.VI. 2000, 550m, leg. Li Wenzhu ” ( IZAS).

Description. Length: 11.5 mm, length of elytra: 8.4 mm, width: 7.4 mm. Body oval, dark reddish brown, antenna yellow, dorsal surface dull, except a few small setae on head glabrous.

Labroclypeus subtrapezoidal, little wider than long, widest at base, lateral margins weakly convex and convergent to strongly rounded anterior angles, lateral margin and ocular canthus producing a blunt angle, margins moderately reflexed, anteriorly very shallowly emarginate medially; surface convexly elevated medially, shiny, finely and densely punctate, glabrous; frontoclypeal suture feebly impressed and convexly curved medially; smooth area in front of eye approximately twice as wide as long; ocular canthus short and wide, finely punctate, with one terminal seta. Frons dull, with fine, moderately dense punctures, with a few long setae beside eyes. Eyes small, ratio of diameter/interocular width: 0.52. Antenna with 10 antennomeres; club with three antennomeres, little shorter than remaining antennomeres combined. Mentum anteriorly elevated and flattened.

Pronotum subtrapezoidal, widest at base, lateral margins convex and evenly convergent anteriorly, anterior angles moderately produced and sharp, posterior angles rounded; anterior margin straight, marginal line complete; basal margin without marginal line; surface moderately finely and densely punctate, with minute setae in punctures; anterior and lateral margins sparsely setose; hypomeron carinate. Scutellum wide, triangular, with fine and moderately dense punctures each bearing a single minute seta.

Elytra oval, widest at middle, striae distinctly impressed, finely and densely punctate, intervals weakly convex, with fine, dense punctures concentrated along striae, punctures with minute setae; epipleural margin robust, ending at the strongly rounded external apical angle of elytra, epipleura sparsely setose, apical border membraneous, with a fine rim of very short microtrichomes.

Ventral surface dull, metasternum and metacoxa with large and dense punctures, meso-and metasternum sparsely setose; metacoxa with minute setae and several long setae laterally. Abdominal sternites in addition to generally distributed fine and moderately dense punctures each with a distinct transverse row of coarse punctures each bearing a short and robust seta, otherwise punctures each with a microscopic seta. Mesosternum between mesocoxae as wide as mesofemur. Ratio of length of metepisternum/metacoxa: 1/1.85. Pygidium moderately evenly convex, finely and densely punctate, without smooth midline, punctures with microscopic setae, with a few long setae along apical margin.

Legs short and wide; femora with two longitudinal rows of setae, finely and sparsely punctate. Metafemur dull, anterior margin acute, lacking an adjacent serrated line and anterior longitudinal row of setae, posterior ventral margin medially straight, strongly widened in apical half and not serrate, dorsally not serrated, finely setose. Metatibia short and wide, widest at middle, ratio width/length: 1/2.4, dorsally sharply carinate, with two groups of spines, basal one at middle, apical one at three quarters of metatibial length, without contiguous serrated line basally but a few small single robust spines; lateral face longitudinally convex, with a few fine punctures on sides; ventral margin finely serrate, with five equidistant spines; medial face impunctate; apex interiorly near tarsal articulation shallowly concave. Tarsomeres impunctate dorsally, ventrally with sparse, short setae; metatarsomeres ventrally glabrous, with a strongly serrated ridge, beside with subventral longitudinal carina; first metatarsomere shorter than following two tarsomeres combined and slightly longer than dorsal tibial spur. Protibia short, bidentate. All claws symmetrical, feebly curved and long, with normally developed basal tooth.

Aedeagus: Fig. 56 E–G. Habitus: Fig. 56H . Female unknown.

Diagnosis. In this new species, the apex of the phallobase is asymmetrical, while poorly formed teneral parameres (specimen immature) appear symmetrical and have a preapical, lateral tooth that is not present in other Chinese Maladera species.

Etymology. The new species is named after type locality, Tongzhong (adjective in the nominative singular).

Distribution. See map ( Fig. 119 ) and Table 1.

Figures

FIGURE 56. A–D: Maladera taiyangheensisAhrens, Fabrizi & Liu, sp. n. (holotype); E–H: M. tongzhongensis 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 119. Distribution of the Maladera ferruginea group: Maladera rubriventris sp. n., M. taiyangheensis sp. n., M. tengchongensis sp. n., M. tongzhongensis sp. n., M. wulaoshanica sp. n..