Maladera trifidiforceps 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 : 332-333

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

Figures 79 E–H, 130

Type material examined. Holotype: ♂ “ China Sichuan Cmei Co. Emei Shan 12.-16.6.93 Benes/ 810 Sericini : Asia spec.” ( ZFMK) . Paratypes: 1 ♂, 1 ♀ “[ China] Taojiang, Leishan , Guizhou, 7.VII. 1988, 950m, leg. Wang Shuyong ” ( IZAS) .

Description. Length: 8.7 mm, length of elytra: 6.0 mm, width: 5.3 mm. Body wide, oval, dark brown, legs brown, antenna yellow, dorsal surface dull, labroclypeus, tarsomeres, and tibiae shiny, glabrous.

Labroclypeus wide, trapezoidal, lateral margins slightly convex and convergent, producing with the ocular canthus a blunt angle, anterior angles moderately rounded, anterior margin weakly emarginate medially, margins weakly reflexed; surface flat, completely shiny, finely and densely punctate, distance between punctures equal their diameter, with a few erect setae in slightly larger punctures throughout; frontoclypeal suture indistinct, bluntly angled medially; ocular canthus moderately wide and long (equals 1/3 of ocular width), finely and sparsely punctate, with a short terminal seta. Frons with superficial, moderately dense punctures, with a few single setae beside eyes and behind frontoclypeal suture. Antenna with ten antennomeres, club with three antennomeres, as long as remaining antennomeres combined. Eyes moderately small, ratio diameter/ interocular width: 0.6. Mentum convexly elevated and flattened anteriorly.

Pronotum widest at base, lateral margins evenly convex and convergent anteriorly, anterior angles sharp and distinctly produced, posterior angles blunt; anterior margin weakly convex, with a fine complete marginal line; basal margin without marginal line; surface finely and moderately densely punctate, setae of lateral and anterior margin fine but sparse, punctures with microscopic setae only. Hypomeron carinate. Scutellum wide, triangular, punctation as on pronotum.

Elytra widest behind middle, striae distinctly impressed, finely punctate, intervals moderately convex, finely and densely punctate, punctures concentrated along striae; epipleural margin robust, ending at strongly rounded external apical angle of elytra, sparsely setose; apex of elytra with a fine membraneous rim of short microtrichomes.

Ventral face coarsely and densely punctate, nearly glabrous, only metasternal plate and lateral metacoxa with a few robust setae. Mesosternum between mesocoxae as wide as mesofemur. Ratio of length of metepisternum/ metacoxa: 1/ 1.45. Abdominal sternites finely and moderately densely punctate, each with a row of coarse punctures bearing each a robust seta. Pygidium strongly convex, coarsely and densely punctate, with moderately densely long setae on apical half.

Legs moderately wide; femora finely and sparsely punctate, with two longitudinal rows of setae. Metafemur shiny, anterior margin acute, without adjacent serrated line; posterior ventral margin almost straight, weakly widened in apical half, ventrally and dorsally completely serrated, glabrous. Metatibia moderately long and wide, ratio width/ length: 1/ 3.0, sharply carinate dorsally, with two groups of spines, basal one at three fifths, apical one at five sixths of metatibial length, basally with a few robust and short setae; lateral face flat, coarsely and densely punctate; apex concavely emarginate interiorly near tarsal articulation. Tarsomeres finely densely punctate dorsally, with moderately dense, fine setae ventrally; metatarsomeres ventrally with a strongly serrated carina, subventrally with a second, smooth longitudinal carina; first metatarsomere as long as following two tarsomeres combined, and little longer than dorsal tibial spur. Protibia moderately long, bidentate, with a blunt external extension at middle; anterior claws symmetric, interior tarsal claws sharply pointed.

Aedeagus: Fig. 79 E–G. Habitus: Fig. 79H .

Diagnosis. Maladera trifidiforceps Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu , sp. n. differs from the species of the Maladera crenolatipes group in having the insertion of the parameres on the phallobase dorsally positioned, and the dorsoapical phallobase only narrowly and shallowly emarginate at middle.

Etymology. The name of the new species (adjective in the nominative singular) is derived from the combined Latin words, tri-(three), fidus (process), and forceps (pins), with reference on the aedeagus having in total three appendages produced by the two parameres.

Variation. Length: 8.0– 8.7 mm, length of elytra: 6.0– 6.4 mm, width: 4.9–5.3 mm. Female: eyes only little smaller than in male, ratio of diameter/interocular width: 0.57; antennal club with three antennomeres, distinctly shorter than remaining antennomeres combined; pygidium flat, at apex slightly convex.

Distribution. See map ( Fig. 130 ) and Table 1.

Figures

FIGURE 79. A–D: Maladera wandingana Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, sp. n. (holotype); E–H: M. trifidiforceps Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, sp. n. (holotype); I–L: M. nanlingensis Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, sp. n. (holotype). A, E, I: aedeagus, left side lateral view; C, G, K: aedeagus, right side lateral view; B, F, J: parameres, dorsal view; D, H, L: habitus. Scale: 0.5 mm. Habitus not to scale

FIGURE 130. Distribution of Maladera species with uncertain systematic status: Maladera panyuensis sp. n., M. parva (Moser, 1908), Maladera punctulata (Frey, 1972), M. rotunda (Arrow, 1946), M. tibialis (Brenske, 1898), M. trifidiforceps sp. n., M. wandingana sp. n.