Maladera crenolatipes 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 : 284-286

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

Figures 67 A–D, 125

Type material examined. Holotype: ♂ “ China: Hunan, Jiucai Ling, 25°32’N 111°22’E IV.2006, H~ 1300m Leg. V. Siniaev / 790 Sericini Asia spec.” ( ZFMK) . Paratypes: 2 ♀♀ “ China: Hunan, Jiucai Ling, 25°32’N 111°22’E IV.2006, H~ 1300m Leg. V. Siniaev ” ( ZFMK) , 3 ♂♂, 3 ♀♀ “ China: Hunan, Jiucai Ling , 25°32’N 111°22’E 1300m, VII.2006, leg. Viktor & Sveta Siniaev” ( ZFMK) .

Description. Length: 7.5 mm, length of elytra: 5.2 mm, width: 4.4 mm. Body oval, dark brown, antenna yellow, labroclypeus shiny, remainder of dorsal surface dull, except a few small setae on head and elytra glabrous.

Labroclypeus subtrapezoidal, moderately wider than long, widest at base, lateral margins weakly convex and moderately convergent to strongly rounded anterior angles, lateral margin and ocular canthus producing an indistinct blunt angle, margins moderately reflexed, anteriorly weakly emarginate medially; surface moderately convex medially, shiny, moderately coarsely and densely punctate, with few long, erect setae anteriorly; frontoclypeal suture indistinctly impressed and weakly angled medially; smooth area in front of eye approximately twice as wide as long; ocular canthus short and wide, finely superficially punctate, with one terminal seta. Frons dull, anteriorly shiny, with fine, moderately dense punctures, glabrous except for a few setae beside eyes and frontoclypeal suture. Eyes moderately large, ratio of diameter/interocular width: 0.78. Antenna with 10 antennomeres; club with three antennomeres, 1.2 times as long as remaining antennomeres combined. Mentum anteriorly elevated and flattened.

Pronotum subtrapezoidal, widest at base, lateral margins evenly convex and strongly convergent anteriorly, anterior angles moderately produced and sharp, anterior margin weakly convex, marginal line complete; surface finely and densely punctate, with very minute setae in the punctures; anterior and lateral margins sparsely setose; hypomeron carinate and slightly produced ventrally. Scutellum wide triangular, with fine and dense punctures, each bearing a single minute seta, impunctate at middle of base.

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

Ventral surface dull, metasternum and metacoxa with large and dense punctures, sparsely setose, metacoxa glabrous except for a 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, punctures with microscopic setae, penultimate sternite apically with a shiny smooth chitinous border being a quarter as long as the sternite. Mesosternum between mesocoxae as wide as mesofemur. Ratio of length of metepisternum/metacoxa: 1/1.55. Pygidium moderately convex, coarsely and densely punctate, without smooth midline, punctures with microscopic setae and with a few long setae along apical margin.

Legs narrow and moderately long; femora with two longitudinal rows of setae, finely and moderately densely punctate; metafemur dull, anterior margin acute, lacking an adjacent serrated line, posterior ventral margin straight, weakly widened in apical half and completely serrate, dorsal margin finely serrate, finely setose. Metatibia moderately wide and long, widest at apex, ratio width/length: 1/3.4, dorsally sharply carinate, with two groups of spines, basal one shortly behind the middle, apical one at four fifths of metatibial length, with a contiguous and straight serrated line from base to basal group of spines, beside it with a few punctures with fine spines; lateral face longitudinally convex, with sparse and fine superficial punctures, with minute setae in punctures; ventral margin serrate, with three equidistant spines; medial face sparsely finely punctate, apex interiorly near tarsal articulation shallowly concave. Tarsomeres impunctate dorsally, ventrally with sparse, short setae; metatarsomeres ventrally glabrous, with a strongly serrated ridge, beside a fine subventral longitudinal carina; first metatarsomere slightly shorter that following two tarsomeres combined and distinctly longer than dorsal tibial spur. Protibia short, bidentate. All claws symmetrical, feebly curved and long, with normally developed basal tooth.

Aedeagus: Fig. 67 A–C. Habitus: Fig. 67D .

Diagnosis. The shape of aedeagus in Maladera crenolatipes Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu , sp. n. resembles somewhat that of Neoserica garlangensis Ahrens, 2004 from Nepal. From all other Maladera species with serrated metatibia, it differs in having a subsymmetric aedeagus, both parameres possessing a basal lobe.

Etymology. The species name is derived from the combined Latin words crenatus (serrate), latus (side) and pes (feet) with reference to the longitudinal serrated line on metatibia (adjective in the nominative singular).

Variation. Length: 6.4–7.7 mm, length of elytra: 5.0– 5.4 mm, width: 4.2–4.6 mm. Female: eyes smaller than in male, ratio of diameter/interocular width: 0.6; antennal club with three antennomeres, as long as remaining antennomeres combined; pygidium weakly convex.

Distribution. See map ( Fig. 125 ) and Table 1.

Figures

FIGURE 67. A–D: Maladera crenolatipes Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, sp. n. (holotype); E–H: M. sanqingshanica Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, sp. n. (holotype); I–L: M. fuanensis 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 125. Distribution of the Maladera crenolatipes group: Maladera crenolatipes sp. n., M. crenatotibialis sp. n., M. fuanensis sp. n., M. lianxianensis sp. n., M. sanqingshanica sp. n., M. xuezhongi sp. n..