Maladera guanxiensis 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 : 266-267

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

Figures 62 A–E, 122

Type material examined. Holotype: ♂ “ China: Guanxi A.R., 5.iv.2013 Shiwandashan National Forest Park (forested river valley, at light) 21°54.4’N, 107°54.2’E, 290-360 m, M. Fikáček, J. Hájek, J. Růžicka leg./ 1079 Sericini Asia spec.” ( ZFMK).

Description. Length: 9.1 mm, length of elytra: 7.0 mm, width: 5.6 mm. Body oval, dark reddish brown, antenna yellow, dorsal surface dull, except a few small setae on head glabrous.

Labroclypeus subtrapezoidal, little wider than long, widest at base, lateral margins straight and weakly convergent to strongly rounded anterior angles, lateral margin and ocular canthus producing a distinct angle, margins strongly reflexed; anterior margin weakly emarginate; surface flat, finely and densely punctate, with numerous long, erect setae; frontoclypeal suture feebly impressed and moderately curved medially; smooth area in front of eye approximately as wide as long; ocular canthus moderately long and narrow, sparsely finely punctate, with two to three terminal setae. Frons dull, with fine, dense punctures, with a few long setae beside eyes. Eyes moderately large, ratio of diameter/interocular width: 0.57. Antenna with 10 antennomeres; club with three antennomeres, 1.8 times as long as remaining antennomeres combined. Mentum anteriorly elevated and flattened.

Pronotum subtrapezoidal, widest at base, lateral margins in basal half nearly straight and convergent, in anterior half convex and convergent anteriorly, anterior angles moderately produced and sharp, anterior margin weakly convex, marginal line medially incomplete; surface moderately finely and densely punctate, with minute setae in punctures; lateral margins sparsely setose, setae at anterior margin lacking medially; hypomeron carinate. Scutellum wide, triangular, with fine and moderately dense punctures each bearing a single minute seta.

Elytra oval, widest at middle, striae distinctly impressed, finely and densely punctate, intervals weakly convex, with fine, moderately dense punctures, odd intervals with a few fine, erect, short setae, otherwise punctures with minute setae; epipleural margin robust, ending at strongly rounded external apical angle of elytra, epipleura sparsely setose, apical border membraneous, with a fine rim of very short microtrichomes.

Ventral surface moderately shiny, metasternum with large and dense punctures, densely setose, metacoxa with minute setae in large punctures, with several long setae laterally. Abdominal sternites in addition to generally distributed fine and moderately dense punctures each with a distinct transverse row of coarse punctures each bearing a short and robust seta, otherwise punctures each with a microscopic seta; 3 rd abdominal sternite medially weakly elevated. Mesosternum between mesocoxae as wide as mesofemur. Ratio of length of metepisternum/metacoxa: 1/1.5. Pygidium strongly convex and moderately shiny, finely and moderately densely punctate, without smooth midline, punctures with microscopic setae, with a few long setae along apical margin.

Legs moderately long and wide; femora with two longitudinal rows of setae, finely and sparsely punctate. Metafemur dull, anterior margin acute, lacking an adjacent serrated line, posterior ventral margin medially straight, weakly widened in apical half and not serrate, dorsal posterior margin finely serrate, glabrous. Metatibia moderately wide and long, widest at apex, ratio width/length: 1/3.5, dorsally sharply carinate, with two groups of spines, basal one at one third, apical one at three quarters of metatibial length, without contiguous serrated line basally; lateral face longitudinally convex, finely and moderately densely punctate; ventral margin finely serrate, with three robust spines of which the two posterior ones are more distant; medial face impunctate; apex interiorly near tarsal articulation shallowly concave. Tarsomeres densely punctate dorsally, ventrally with sparse, short setae; metatarsomeres ventrally with a strongly serrated ridge and glabrous, beside it with subventral longitudinal carina; first metatarsomere shorter than following two tarsomeres combined and slightly longer than dorsal tibial spur. Protibia short, bidentate. All claws symmetrical, feebly curved and long, with normally developed basal tooth.

Aedeagus: Fig. 62 A–D. Habitus: Fig. 62E . Female unknown.

Diagnosis. Maladera guanxiensis Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu , sp. n. is very similar to Maladera hunanensis Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu , sp. n. in general external appearance and shape of the aedeagus differing primarily in the parameres being fused dorsally.

Etymology. The new species is named (adjective in the nominative singular case) after its occurrence in Guanxi province.

Distribution. See map ( Fig. 122 ) and Table 1.

Figures

FIGURE 62. A–E: Maladera guanxiensis Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, sp. n. (holotype); F–I: M. pieli Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, sp. n. (holotype); J–M: M. chinensis (Moser, 1915) (China: Shaanxi: Hunyuan). A, F, J: aedeagus, left side lateral view; D, H, L: aedeagus, right side lateral view; C: aedeagus, dorsal view; B, G, K: parameres, dorsal view; E, I, M: habitus. Scale: 0.5 mm. Habitus not to scale.

FIGURE 122. Distribution of the Maladera uncipenis group: Maladera constellata sp. n., M. fengyangshanica sp. n., M. guanxiensis sp. n., M. hunanensis sp. n., M. jaroslavi sp. n., M. nanpingensis sp. n., M. paraserripes sp. n..