Melolontha furcicauda Ancey, 1881

(Figs. 12, 24, 52, 64)

Melolontha furcicauda Ancey 1881: 412 (type locality: Ladak, Thibet); Nonfried 1892: 286 (checklist); Dalla Torre 1912: 268 (catalogue); Arrow 1921: 13 (distribution); Mittal 1981: 35 – 40 (distribution); Mittal 2000: 266 (checklist); Bezdĕk 2006: 195 (catalogue); Chandra & Uniyal 2007: 2821 (distribution); Sood et al. 2009: 370 – 376 (distribution); Kumar et al. 2005: 15 – 20 (distribution, host record); Kumar et al. 2007: 103 – 109 (distribution); Keith & Saltin 2012: 21, pl. 5A–J, 7A–I, 8A–J, pl. 9, 10 (illustration of type material); Krajčík 2012: 158 (checklist); Singh & Banyal 2013: 1059 (distribution); Roy et al. 2014: 13 (host); Pathania et al. 2015a: 53 (distribution); Pathania et al. 2015b: 131 (distribution); Feroz et al. 2015: 175, figs. 2a – d (distribution); Bezdĕk 2016: 231 (catalogue); Lal & Sharma 2017: 447 – 452 (distribution); Kumar et al. 2018: 534 (distribution); Ghosh et al. 2020: 249 (checklist); Rana et al. 2022a: 281–305 (description of grubs and adults); Rana et al. 2022b: 71–82.

Hoplosternus furcicauda: Dalla & Torre 1912: 264 (catalogue); Sabatinelli 1992: 613 (catalogue); Zhang 1988: 244 (new record, description).

Hoplosternus bifurcatus Brenske 1896a: 164 (type locality: Kashmir, Nepal); Barlow 1899: 269 (N – E Frontier); Dalla Torre 1912: 264 (catalogue); Sabatinelli 1992: 613 (catalogue); Li et al. 2010: 345 (as a junior synonym of M. furcicauda).

Melolontha furcienanda: Li et al. 2010: 345 (checklist, misspelling).

Hoplosternus furcicandus Brenske 1896a: 163 (description, misspelling); Barlow 1899: 270 (misspelling).

Melolontha insignis Semenov 1890: 197 (Kundshut, Ljub-dshangal); Fairmaire 1891: LXXXVII (diagnosis); Reitter 1902: 259; Dalla Torre 1912: 270 (catalogue); Bezdĕk 2006: 196 (catalogue); Keith & Saltin 2012: 22, pl. 6 (habitus, holotype male, aedeagus) (as a junior synonym of M. furcicauda).

Hoplosternus insignis: Dalla Torre 1912: 264 (catalogue); Balthasar 1936: 205 (distribution); Medvedev 1951: 115 (description); Sabatinelli 1992: 613 (catalogue).

Material examined. India, Himachal Pradesh: Great Himalayan National Park, Dhagra, 17.v.1996, 2 exs., leg. V.P. Uniyal [NZSI]; Solan, 30.vi.1968, 1♁, leg. O.B. Chhotani ; Kulu Manali, 03.vii.1956, 1♀, leg. M.S. Mani ; Chamba, Kalatop Khajjiar Wildelife Snctuary, Pithoragorh, Sangolihat, 24.v.2010, 1♀, leg. A.K. Sindhu (NZSI) . India, Ladakh: Hunder Forest Guest House, 28.viii.2008, 3♁, 29.viii.2008, 1♀, leg. K. Chandra [NZSI]; Ladakh, Leh, Phey, 18.viii.2019, 10♀, leg. A.K. Sidhu (NZSI) . India, Uttarakhand: Bageshwar, 30.ix.2004, 1♁, 1♀, leg. D.R. Moulik (NZSI); Bageshwar, Chanoda, 29.viii.2005, 1♀, leg. S.K. Chatterjee (NZSI); Nainital, 06.ix.2005, 3♁, leg. S.K. Chhatterjee (NZSI); Nainital, Shila Lake, 07.viii.2004, 1♁, leg. M. Ghosh (NZSI); Nainital, Naukoshiya, 05.viii.2004, 1♀, leg. M. Ghosh (NZSI); Nainital, Bhowali, 08.ix.2005, 4♁, leg. S.K. Chatterjee; Dehradun, Balowgunj, 14.viii.1965, 2♁, leg. R.K. Bhatnagar (NZSI); Pithoragarh, Gangolihat, 05.ix.2005, 2♀, leg. S.K. Chatterjee ; Almora, near Almorah Circuit House, 11.ix.2002, 1♁, leg. P.H. Roy (NZSI); Garhwal, Dhakwani, 14.viii.1958, 1♀, leg. B.S. Lamba (NZSI) .

Diagnosis. Refer to species key.

Distribution. India: Haryana (Mittal 1981), Himachal Pradesh (Mittal 2000; Chandra & Uniyal 2007; Sood et al. 2009; Kumar et al. 2005; Kumar et al. 2007; Singh & Banyal 2013; Pathania et al. 2015a, 2015b; Rana et al. 2022 a, 2022b), Jammu and Kashmir (Brenske 1896a; Barlow 1899; Kumar et al. 2018), Ladakh (Ancey 1881; Arrow 1921; Feroz et al. 2015), Sikkim (Barlow 1899), Uttarakhand (Lal & Sharma 2017), and West Bengal (Darjeeling) (Barlow 1899); Afghanistan (Bezdĕk 2016), Bangladesh, China (Zhang 1988), Nepal (Brenske 1896a), Pakistan (Keith & Saltin 2012), and Tajikistan (Bezdĕk 2016).

Host records. Melolontha furcicauda cause variable extents of damage to maize crop and infests upland paddy, tea plantations and conifers (Kumar et al. 2005).