Melolontha nepalensis ( Blanchard, 1851 )

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 : 211

Melolontha nepalensis ( Blanchard, 1851)

( Figs. 8 , 20 , 48 , 60 )

Hoplosternus nepalensis Blanchard 1851: 158 (type locality: Nepal); Brenske 1896a: 164; Dalla Torre 1912: 264 (catalogue); Zhang 1988: 244 (new record); Sabatinelli 1992: 616 (catalogue).

Melolontha nepalensis: Burmeister 1855: 411 ; Bates 1891: 16; Kumar et al. 2005: 15 – 20 (distribution, host record); Bezdĕk 2006: 196 (catalogue); Kumar et al. 2007: 103 – 109 (distribution); Li et al. 2010: 345, fig. 22; Krajčík 2012: 158; Bezdĕk 2016: 232 (catalogue).

Material examined. India, Himachal Pradesh (now Uttarakhand): Almorah, Kumaon, 5,500 ft., 14.iii.1901, 1♁, leg. C. Paiva, det. G.J. Arrow [ NZSI]. Expedition of Himalayas , 1954, 1♁, leg. M.S. Mani. India, Uttarakhand: Garhwal, Piplakote, 15.viii.1958, 2♁, leg. B.S. Lamba [ NZSI]; Garhwal , Joshimath , 7,000 ft., 31.viii.1958, 1♀, leg. B.S. Lamba [ NZSI]; Nainital, 6.ix.2005, 1♁, leg. S.K. Chatterjee [ NZSI]; Bageswar, 2.ix.2005, 1♁, leg. S.K. Chatterjee; Chamoli , 07.vii.2004, 1♁, leg. SK Chakraborty [ NZSI] .

Diagnosis. Refer to species key.

Distribution. India: Himachal Pradesh ( Bates 1891; Kumar et al. 2005) and Uttarakhand; Bangladesh ( Dalla Torre 1912), China ( Zhang 1988), and Nepal ( Blanchard 1851).

Host plants. As per Kumar et al. (2005), M. nepalensis cause variable extents of damage to maise and paddy crop and infests upland paddy.

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.