Maladera flammea ( Brenske, 1898 )

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 : 340-341

Maladera flammea ( Brenske, 1898)

Figure 82 A–C

Autoserica flammea Brenske, 1898: 209 .

Maladera flammea: Ahrens 2006b ; 237; 2007b: 23.

Type material examined. Lectotype (here designated): ♀ “ Hongkong / Serica flammea Type Brsk/ coll. Brenske / flammea Brs. ” ( ZMHB) . Paralectotype (not labelled as such): 1 ♀ “Typus Autoserica flammea Brenske [handwritten Felsche]/ Serica flammea type Brsk. [handwritten Brenske]” ( SMTD) .

Description. Length: 9.0 mm, length of elytra: 6.5 mm, width: 5.2 mm. Body oval, reddish brown, antenna yellow, dorsal surface dull, labroclypeus weakly shiny, except a few setae on head dorsal surface glabrous.

Labroclypeus trapezoidal, lateral margins weakly convex and convergent, producing with the ocular canthus an indistinct angle, anterior angles convex, anterior margin weakly emarginate medially and reflexed, lateral margin moderately reflexed, margin with a fine lateral incision between lateral margin and anterior margin; surface weakly convex, shiny, irregularly and very densely punctate, punctures fusing with each other, coarse punctures are mixed with finer ones, with a few short setae; frontoclypeal suture finely incised, moderately curved; ocular canthus moderately wide and long (equals 1/3 of ocular width), finely and sparsely punctate, with a short terminal seta. Frons dull, with fine, sparse, irregular punctures, with a few single setae beside eyes. Antenna with ten antennomeres, club with three antennomeres, little shorter than remaining antennomeres combined. Eyes moderately large, ratio diameter/ interocular width: 0.53. Mentum convexly elevated and flattened anteriorly.

Pronotum widest at posterior third, lateral margins evenly convex and convergent anteriorly as well as posteriorly, anterior angles sharp and distinctly produced, posterior angles convex; anterior margin weakly convex, with a fine complete marginal line; basal margin without marginal line; surface finely and densely punctate, setae of lateral and anterior margin long and sparse, punctures with microscopic setae only. Hypomeron carinate, not produced ventrally. Scutellum wide, triangular, punctation as on pronotum.

Elytra widest at middle, striae finely impressed, finely punctate, intervals weakly convex, finely and sparsely punctate, punctures concentrated along striae, glabrous except minute setae in punctures; epipleural margin robust, ending at strongly rounded external apical angle of elytra, sparsely setose; apex of elytra with a very 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. Metacoxa at apical margin glabrous. Mesosternum between mesocoxae as wide as mesofemur. Ratio of length of metepisternum/ metacoxa: 1/ 1.59. Abdominal sternites finely and moderately densely punctate, each with a row of coarse punctures bearing each a robust seta. Pygidium weakly convex, finely and moderately densely punctate, with a few long setae on apical margin.

Legs short and wide; femora finely and sparsely punctate, with two longitudinal rows of setae. Metafemur shiny, anterior margin acute, without adjacent serrated line, anterior row of setae complete; posterior ventral margin, moderately widened in apical half, ventrally and dorsally not serrated, glabrous. Metatibia moderately long and wide, ratio width/ length: 1/3.1, sharply carinate dorsally, with two groups of spines, basal one at middle, apical one at four fifths of metatibial length, basally with a few robust and short setae, without serrated line basally; lateral face weakly longitudinally convex, finely and moderately densely punctate, along middle impunctate; ventral margin serrate with four equidistant spines; medial face impunctate, apex concavely emarginate interiorly near tarsal articulation. Tarsomeres impunctate dorsally, with moderately dense, fine setae ventrally; metatarsomeres ventrally with a strongly serrated carina, subventrally with a second, smooth longitudinal carina, glabrous; first metatarsomere as long as following two tarsomeres combined and a quarter of its length longer than dorsal tibial spur. Protibia moderately long, bidentate; anterior claws symmetric, interior tarsal claws sharply pointed.

Head. Fig. 82A . Habitus: Fig. 82B, C . Male unknown.

Remarks. Only one female syntype is known from the Brenske collection (ZMHB). Whether the second syntype specimen from SMTD belongs to the type series is uncertain. So far, the specimens could not be matched with any of the known Chinese Sericini species, although it somewhat resembles Maladera simlana ( Brenske, 1898) from the Himalayas.

Figures

FIGURE 82. A–C: Maladera flammea (Brenske, 1898) (lectotype); D–F: M. exigua (Brenske, 1894) (lectotype); G–I: M. harmonica (Brenske, 1897) (lectotype). A, D, G: head, dorsal view; B, E, H: body, lateral view; C, F, I: habitus, dorsal view.