Maladera rufopaca 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 : 35-37

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

Figures 6 A–D, 87

Type material examined. Holotype: ♂ “ China: N-Yunnan, Baiyungshan (Bai Railing Mts.) 2400m, Yong Ren , VII- 2003 leg. Ying et al. / 718 Sericini Asia spec.” ( ZFMK) . Paratypes: Vietnam: 1 ♂ “N Vietnam (Tonkin) pr. Hoang Lien Son Yen Bai 10.V.1990 Vit. Kuban leg./ Coll. Milan Nikodym, Praha ” ( ZFMK) . Thailand: 2 ♂♂ “ Thai 11– 15.V.1993 Nan-Pha Khab Pacholátko & Dembicky leg./ TS106/ 305 Sericini Asia spec.” ( CP, ZFMK) , 1 ♂ “Thailand: Phitsanulok Prov. Phu Hin Rongkla Natl. Park 12 June 1998 L-190 Sites.Simpson, Vithepradit black light at Park HQ” ( UMRM) . Laos: 1 ♂ “ Laos, 21°09’N 101°19’E, Louangnamtha pr. Namtha-MuangSing, 5–31.v.1997, 900– 1200 m, Vit Kubán leg.” ( CP) .

Description. Length: 6.1 mm, length of elytra: 4.6 mm, width: 4.0 mm. Body short oval, reddish brown, antenna yellow, labroclypeus moderately shiny, remainder of dorsal surface dull, glabrous except for a few small setae on head and lateral margins of pronotum and elytra.

Labroclypeus moderately trapezoidal, distinctly wider than long, widest at base, lateral margins straight and convergent to moderately rounded anterior angles, lateral margin and ocular canthus producing an indistinct angle, margins weakly reflexed, anterior margin distinctly emarginate medially; surface convex medially, shiny, finely and moderately densely punctate, with a few erect setae anteriorly; frontoclypeal suture feebly incised and weakly curved; smooth area anterior to eye twice as wide as long; ocular canthus short and wide, finely scarcely punctate, with a single terminal seta. Frons dull, anterior quarter shiny, with fine, sparse punctures, glabrous except for a few setae beside eyes. Eyes small, ratio of diameter/ interocular width: 0.56. Antenna with ten antennomeres; club with three antennomeres, slightly longer than remaining antennomeres combined. Mentum elevated and flattened anteriorly.

Pronotum transverse, widest at base, lateral margins evenly convex and narrowed towards strongly produced and sharp anterior angles; anterior margin weakly convex, with complete and fine marginal line, posterior angles blunt; basal margin without marginal line; surface finely and densely punctate, punctures with microscopic setae only; anterior and lateral margins setose; hypomeron carinate but not produced ventrally. Scutellum wide, triangular, with fine and moderately dense punctures.

Elytra oblong, widest in posterior third, striae weakly impressed, finely and sparsely punctate, intervals weakly convex, with fine, moderately dense and evenly distributed punctures; penultimate lateral interval with a few sparse fine, short setae, remainder of punctures with minute setae only; epipleural margin robust, ending at widely rounded external apical angle of elytra, epipleura sparsely setose, apical border narrowly membranous, apex covered with short microtrichomes.

Ventral surface dull, metasternum and metacoxa with large and dense punctures, sparsely setose; metacoxa glabrous except for numerous long setae laterally; abdominal sternites finely and densely punctate, some punctures with very short or minute setae, each sternite with a distinct transverse row of coarse punctures each bearing a short seta, penultimate sternite apically with a wide shiny smooth chitinous border of half sternite length. Mesosternum between mesocoxae 1.5 times as wide as mesofemur. Ratio of length of metepisternum/metacoxa: 1/1.7. Pygidium weakly convex, dull, finely and moderately densely punctate, glabrous except a few short setae apically.

Legs moderately wide; femora finely and sparsely punctate, with two longitudinal rows of setae. Metafemur wide, shiny, anterior margin acute, lacking an adjacent serrated line, surface very sparsely and superficially punctate, anterior row of setae complete; posterior ventral margin feebly concave medially, moderately widened in apical half and not serrate apically, posterior margin dorsally not serrated, glabrous. Metatibia wide and short, widest at middle, ratio width/length: 1/2.5, dorsal margin sharply carinate, with two groups of spines, basal one at middle, apical one at three quarters of metatibial length, beside dorsal margin basally with one or two fine setae; lateral face weakly longitudinally convex, nearly entirely impunctate; ventral margin finely serrate, with four strong equidistant spines; medial face impunctate, apex shallowly concave interiorly near tarsal articulation. Tarsomeres impunctate dorsally, with sparse, short setae ventrally; metatarsomeres with a strongly serrated longitudinal ridge and a strong, smooth carina beside it, first metatarsomere as long as 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. 6 A–C. Habitus: Fig. 6D . Female unknown.

Diagnosis. Maladera rufopaca Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu , sp. n. differs from M. fangchengensis Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu , sp. n. in having the ventral lobe of left paramere longer, distinctly exceeding the lobiform dorsal lobe.

Etymology. The name of the new species (adjective in the nominative singular) is derrived from the combined Latin words rufu s -(red) and opacus (dark).

Variation. Length: 6.1–8.0 mm, length of elytra: 4.6–5.6 mm, width: 4.0–5.0 mm.

Distribution. See map ( Fig. 87 ) and Table 1.

Figures

FIGURE 6. A–D: Maladera rufopaca Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, sp. n. (paratype); E–H: M. fangchengensis Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, sp. n. (holotype). A, E: aedeagus, left side lateral view; C, G: aedeagus, right side lateral view; B, F: parameres, dorsal view; D, H: habitus. Scale: 0.5 mm. Habitus not to scale.

FIGURE 87. Distribution of the subgenus Hemiserica: Maladera eshanensis sp. n., M. fangchengensis sp. n., M. hsui sp. n., M. rufopaca sp. n..