Metadorodocia vittata ( Waterhouse, 1878 )

Akhmetova, Lilia & Montreuil, Olivier, 2010, Revision of Metadorodocia Machatschke, 1957, a genus endemic to Madagascar (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Rutelinae: Adoretini), Zootaxa 2401, pp. 61-68 : 62-64

Metadorodocia vittata ( Waterhouse, 1878)

Figs. 5, 6 , 8, 10 , 11, 12

Adoretus vittatus – Waterhouse 1878: 287.

Adoretus vittatus – Künckel d’Herculais 1887: XVI, 10. Adoretus vittatus – Alluaud 1900: 273.

Adorodocia vittata – Ohaus 1918: 182.

Metadorodocia vittata – Machatschke 1957: 323.

Type material. Lectotype male (here designated) with the label “Madag. 78.18”,” ( BMNH); paralectotype female with the same label as the lectotype ( BMNH).

Additional material. MADAGASCAR: female, “Tananarive, 1889, R.P. Camboué leg.”; 2 males and female, “Antanarivo, Kingdon leg.”; male and female, “Fianarantsoa, Janson leg.”; female, “Fianarantsoa”; 2 males and female, “Antanaporivo”; 3 males and female, “Cowan leg.”; male, “P. Griveaud leg.”; 2 males, “Andriamena, P. Griveaud leg.”; male, “Betsileo, 14–15.II.1974, P. Viette, A. Payrieras leg.”; male, “Ranomafana, XI-2004, O. Montreuil leg” (OM personal collection); male and female, “1881”; 4 males and 2 females, no locality.

Description. Lectotype, male. 17.5 mm, with elongate, rather convex, shiny body. Color dark brown, venter of body almost black, elytra with reddish-yellow pattern.

Head with clypeus rounded, turned up on the margins, relatively short, its length shorter than 1/2 width. Genae very small, almost not protruding past eyes. Clypeus and disc of head smooth, glabrous, punctate near the eyes and on the posterior border of head and clypeus.

Pronotum brown with slightly darker lateral sides, trapezoidal, more than 2 times wider than long, its dorsal surface slightly convex. Anterior angles acute; posterior angles almost right. Dorsal surface finely microreticulated and punctulate, with bunches of rather large, rounded punctures near the base laterally. Each puncture bears very short, thin, pale seta in the center. Lateral margins with small, dense, partly joined punctures. Disc of pronotum glabrous.

Scutellum of the same dark color as elytra, subtriangular, slightly rounded laterally, with sparse punctures; bearing very short, white setae.

Elytra relatively convex, wider than pronotum, brown, with 3 longitudinal, large, yellow maculae on each elytron. Medial macula bordering the sutural margin not interrupted. Two lateral maculae almost fused in some specimens ( Fig. 10 ). Elytra sparsely, irregularly, and finely punctate, with irregular sparse, thin, paler setae of varying length. Epipleurae and apices of elytra with thick, sparse setae.

Legs include protibiae with 3 teeth on the outer margin, the middle tooth closer to the apical one.

Ve nt e r of body, excluding glabrous metasternal disc, with sparse, relatively long, thin, pale setae. Visible apical sternite of abdomen elongate, punctate.

Eight tergite shagreened, covered with sparse, short, thin, pale setae and with long erected setae near the apical margin.

Aedeagus with parameres without processes in dorsolateral view ( Fig. 8 ). Endophallus as in Fig. 12 .

Variability. The paralectotype differs from the lectotype in the slightly larger body. Some specimens are colored dark brown to black excluding yellow maculae on elytra. Lateral macula may or may not be interrupted. Males of the species can slightly differ in the shape of parameres ( Figs. 5, 6 ). Female similar to the male, except by the longer, more rounded and completely rugose apical sternite of abdomen ( Fig. 14 ) and stronger protibiae.

Differential diagnosis. Metadorodocia vittata can be separated from M. frolovi by the presence of two to three yellow maculae on each elytron ( Fig. 10 ) and by the parameres without processes in the dorsal side ( Fig. 8 ).

Distribution. Central Madagascar ( Fig. 11 ).

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 6. Metadorodocia. M. frolovi (1 – 4), M. vittata (5, 6). 1 – 6 — aedeagi in dorsal and lateral views (4 — holotype).

FIGURES 7 – 10. Metadorodocia. M. frolovi, holotype (7, 9), M. vittata (8, 10). 7, 8 — parameres, not to scale (arrow indicates presence or absence of process, see text); 9, 10 — dorsal view (label not to scale).

FIGURES 11 – 14. Metadorodocia. M. vittata (12), M. frolovi (13, 14). 11 — distribution map of M. frolovi and M. vittata; 12 — endophallus; 13, 14 — apical visible sternite of abdomen.