Maladera paraserripes Ahrens, F, 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 : 274-275

Maladera paraserripes Ahrens, F abrizi & Liu, sp. n.

Figures 64 E–I, 122

Type material examined. Holotype: ♂ “ China, Fujian c., 21.-22.VI. Ziyungdongshan, NW slopes 25°46’N 117°20’E, 900-1100m Jaroslav Turna leg., 2007” ( ZFMK).

Description. Length: 7.5 mm, length of elytra: 6.0 mm, width: 4.9 mm. Body oval, reddish brown, head darker, antenna yellowish, dorsal surface dull, labroclypeus, tarsomeres, and tibiae shiny, glabrous.

Labroclypeus wide, lateral margins weakly convex and moderately convergent, anterior angles convex, anterior margin shallowly emarginate medially, lateral margins produce with ocular canthus an indistinct angle, margins weakly reflexed; surface shiny, weakly convex, finely and densely punctate, with a few long, erect setae anteriorly; smooth area in front of eyes 1.5 times as wide as long; frontoclypeal suture finely incised, bluntly angled medially; ocular canthus moderately wide and short (1/3 of ocular diameter), finely and densely punctate, with a short terminal seta. Frons with fine and dense punctures, with a few single setae beside eyes. Eyes moderately large, ratio diameter/ interocular width: 0.5. Antenna with ten antennomeres, club with three antennomeres and straight, slightly shorter than remaining antennomeres combined. Mentum convexly elevated and flattened anteriorly.

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

Elytra oval, widest at posterior third, striae finely impressed, finely punctate, intervals weakly convex, finely and densely punctate, with minute setae in punctures, odd intervals with a few erect short setae; epipleura 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, mesosternum densely shortly setose, only metasternal plate with numerous robust setae; metacoxa glabrous, with a few long setae laterally. Distance between mesocoxae as wide as mesofemur. Ratio of length of metepisternum/metacoxa: 1/1.4. Abdominal sternites finely and moderately densely punctate, each with a row of coarse punctures bearing each a robust seta. Pygidium in holotype lacking.

Legs moderately long and wide; femora superficially and sparsely punctate, with two longitudinal rows of setae. Metafemur dull, anterior margin acute, without adjacent serrated line, anterior longitudinal row of setae absent; posterior ventral margin almost straight, only little widened in apical half and serrated, dorsal posterior margin completely serrated, glabrous. Metatibia moderately long and wide, widest shortly before apex, dorsal and ventral margin subparallel, ratio width/length: 1/3.6, 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; lateral face weakly longitudinally convex, with dense coarse punctures; medial face with dense coarse punctures, apex shallowly and concavely emarginate interiorly near tarsal articulation. Tarsomeres impunctate dorsally, with dense, fine setae ventrally; metatarsomeres ventrally glabrous, with a strongly serrated carina, subventrally with a second, smooth longitudinal carina; first metatarsomere slightly shorter than following two tarsomeres combined, little longer than dorsal tibial spur. Protibia short, bidentate. Anterior claws symmetrical.

Aedeagus: Fig. 64 E–H. Habitus: Fig. 64I . Female unknown.

Diagnosis. Maladera paraserripes Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu , sp. n. differs from M. serripes in having the dorsal phallobase much less developed distally and having two long ventral processes (instead of only one as in M. serripes ). Compared to M. xinqiaoensis Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu , sp. n., the parameres of M. paraserripes differ in the left paramere being much more open, less hooked and short and the right one being much narrower, and wider apically (in lateral view) and not bent externally (dorsal view).

Etymology. The name (noun in the nominative singular case) of the new species is derived from the combined word, ‘para’ (Greek, false) and serripes (species name), with references to its similarity to M. serripes (Moser) .

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

Figures

FIGURE 64. A–D: Maladera serripes (Moser, 1915) (China: Fujian: Aotou); E–I: M. paraserripes Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, sp. n. (holotype); J–M: M. xinqiaoensis Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, sp. n. (holotype). A, E, J: aedeagus, left side lateral view; C, H, L: aedeagus, right side lateral view; B, F, K: parameres, dorsal view; G: aedeagus, ventral view; D, 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..