Maladera longruiensis 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 : 104-105

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

Figures 21 I–L, 96

Type material examined. Holotype: ♂ “[ China] Longrui, Ningming , Guangxi, 25.V. 1984, 180m, leg. Li Fasheng / LW-710” ( CAU) . Paratypes: 1 ♂ “ Burma ( Myanmar) SW Shan State Taunggyi J. Rejsek 1.- 18.6.1997 ” ( ZFMK) , 1 ♂ “N-Thailand 27.III-3.IV.1990 Doi Inthanon lg. Malicky / Thai H/ 41 Sericini Asia spec.” ( ZSM) , 1 ♂ “ Thailand bor. occ. 30.04.- 14.05.1991 Mae Hong Song env. Ban Huai Po , 1800 m Jan Farkac leg.” ( NHMB) , 1 ♂ “Thai 1- 8.V.1993 Soppong Pai 1800m Pacholatko & Dembicky ” ( CP) , 1 ♂ “NW Thailand 9.-16.V. Mae Hong Son 1991 Ban Huai Po 1600m leg. P. Pacholátko / TS 69” ( CP) .

Description. Length: 6.9 mm, length of elytra: 6.6 mm, width: 5.1 mm. Body oval, dark reddish brown to blackish, antenna yellow, club brown, dorsal surface dull, except some single setae on head dorsal surface nearly glabrous.

Labroclypeus wide and trapezoidal, shiny, widest at base, lateral margins convex and strongly convergent anteriorly, anterior angles blunt and slightly reflexed, anterior margin moderately emarginate, margins moderately reflexed; lateral margin and ocular canthus produce a blunt angle; surface weakly convex medially, finely and densely punctate, with a few erect setae anteriorly; frontoclypeal suture indistinctly incised, curved; smooth area anterior to eye flat, 1.5 times as wide as long; ocular canthus long and moderately wide (nearly 1/3 of ocular diameter), finely and sparsely punctate, terminal seta lacking. Frons dull, with fine, dense punctures and a few single erect setae beside eyes. Eyes moderately large, ratio diameter/ interocular width: 0.67. Antenna with ten antennomeres; club with three antennomeres and weakly reflexed, 1.2 times as long as remaining antennomeres combined. Mentum elevated and slightly flattened anteriorly.

Pronotum moderately transverse, widest at base, lateral margins evenly convex and moderately convergent anteriorly, anterior angles moderately produced and right-angled, posterior angles blunt, weakly rounded at tip; anterior margin weakly convex, with fine and complete marginal line, base without marginal line; surface finely and densely punctate, with minute setae in punctures, otherwise glabrous; lateral and anterior margin finely setose; hypomeron carinate, not produced ventrally. Scutellum wide, triangular, dull, with fine, sparse punctures.

Elytra widest shortly behind middle, striae distinctly impressed, finely and sparsely punctate, intervals weakly convex, with fine and sparse punctures concentrated along striae, with minute setae in punctures, odd intervals with a few single short setae; epipleural margin robust, ending at strongly curved external apical angle of elytra, epipleura densely setose; apical border of elytra membraneous, with narrow rim of microtrichomes (at ca 100x magnification).

Ventral surface dull, coarsely and moderately densely punctate, metasternum sparsely covered with sparse fine setae; metacoxa with a few longer setae laterally, otherwise glabrous. Abdominal sternites finely and irregularly densely punctate, glabrous, each sternite with a transverse row of coarse punctures each bearing a robust long seta. Mesosternum between mesocoxae as wide as mesofemur. Ratio of length of metepisternum/metacoxa: 1/1.45. Pygidium strongly convex and dull, coarsely and densely punctate, without smooth midline, with a few longer setae along apical margin.

Legs moderately wide and short, weakly shiny; femora with two longitudinal rows of setae, finely and sparsely punctate. Metafemur dull, with anterior margin acute, with continuous serrated line behind anterior margin, setae of anterior row very short; posterior margin smooth and moderately widened at apex ventrally, not serrate dorsally, with just a few short setae basally. Metatibia short, widest at apex, ratio of width/length: 1/2.86, sharply carinate dorsally, with two groups of spines, basal group shortly behind middle, apical group at four fifths of metatibial length, with a few short robust setae basally with serrated margin; lateral face weakly longitudinally convex, sparsely punctate on basal half and sides, with minute setae in punctures; ventral margin finely serrate, with three robust setae of which the apical one is more distant; medial face smooth and glabrous; apex finely serrate, moderately truncate interiorly near tarsal articulation. Tarsomeres dorsally smooth and glabrous, neither laterally nor dorsally carinate, sparsely setose ventrally; metatarsomeres with a strongly serrated ridge ventrally and a smooth subventral longitudinal carina; first metatarsomere slightly longer than dorsal tibial spur, distal metarsomeres lacking in holotype. Protibia short, bidentate; anterior claws symmetrical, basal tooth of both claws bluntly truncate at apex.

Aedeagus: Fig. 21 I–K. Habitus: Fig. 21L . Female unknown.

Diagnosis. Maladera longruiensis Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu , sp. n. is very similar to M. fereobscurata Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu , sp. n. and M. shenoqiae Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu , sp. n., M. longruiensis Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu , sp. n. being distinguished by lacking a serrated line beside the dorsal margin of the metatibia, and by the shape of the parameres, which have long basal and distal filiform processes, structures that are absent in the two other species.

Etymology. The species name (adjective in the nominative singular) is derived from its type locality, Longrui.

Variation. Length: 5.9–6.9 mm, length of elytra: 4.2–6.6 mm, width: 3.6–5.1 mm.

Distribution. See map ( Fig. 96 ) and Table 1.

Figures

FIGURE 21. A–D: Maladera invenusta (Moser) (China: Guangxi: Banbaxiang); E–H: M. futschauana (Brenske, 1897) (syntype: Autosercia montivaga Moser, 1915; Vietnam: Montes Mauson); I–L: M. longruiensis 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 96. Distribution of the Maladera teizoana group: Maladera longruiensis sp. n., M. obscurata (Moser, 1915), M. parobscurata sp. n., M. saitoi (Niijima & Kinoshita, 1927), M. shengqiaoae sp. n..