Maladera anhuiensis 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 : 62-63

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

Figures 12 A–D, 90

Type material examined. Holotype: ♂ “ China, SW Anhui, 11.-26. V. Tianzhushan env. pitfall traps, 30.75N 116.45E Jaroslav Turna leg., 2004” ( ZFMK) . Paratype: 1 ♂ “ Mts. Lushan , Jiangxi, 10.V. 1977, leg. Zhang Youwei ” ( IZAS) .

Redescription. Length: 9.1 mm, length of elytra: 6.6 mm, width: 5.4 mm. Body oval, reddish brown, antenna yellow, labroclypeus shiny, remainder of dorsal surface dull, glabrous, except for a few small setae on the head and elytra.

Labroclypeus subtrapezoidal, distinctly wider than long, widest at base, straight and strongly convergent to moderately rounded anterior angles, lateral border and ocular canthus producing a distinct blunt angle, margins weakly reflexed, anteriorly very shallowly emarginate medially; surface weakly convex medially, shiny, finely punctate, distance between punctures irregular sometimes less than their diameter, with a few long, erect setae; frontoclypeal suture feebly impressed and weakly curved medially; smooth area in front of eye approximately twice as wide as long; ocular canthus short and moderately broad, finely punctate, with a single short terminal seta. Frons with fine, moderately dense punctures, glabrous except for a few setae beside eyes. Eyes small, ratio of diameter/ interocular width: 0.6. Antenna yellow, with ten antennomeres; club with three antennomeres, as long as remaining antennomeres together. Mentum anteriorly elevated and flattened.

Pronotum widest at base, lateral margins weakly and evenly convex and convergent anteriorly, anterior angles distinctly produced and sharp, anterior marginal line widely interrupted medially, margin weakly and convexly produced medially; surface moderately densely and finely punctate, with very minute setae in punctures only; anterior and lateral borders setose. Scutellum broad, triangular, with fine and moderately dense punctures, each bearing a single very minute seta.

Elytra oblong, widest at middle, striae distinctly impressed, finely and densely punctate, intervals moderately convex, with fine, moderately dense punctures, penultimate lateral interval with a few fine, erect, short setae, some punctures with very minute setae; epipleural margin robust, ending at the weakly convex external apical angle of elytra, epipleura densely setose, apical border chitinous, with short microtrichomes.

Ventral surface dull, thorax and metacoxa with large dense punctures, sparsely setose, metacoxa glabrous except for a few long setae laterally; each abdominal sternite, in addition to generally distributed fine and moderately dense punctures, with a distinct transverse row of coarse punctures each bearing a short and robust seta, some punctures with microscopic setae, penultimate sternite apically with a shiny smooth chitinous border, which is one third as long as sternite. Mesosternum between mesocoxae as wide as mesofemur. Ratio of length of metepisternum/ metacoxa: 1/ 1.62. Pygidium strongly convex, finely and densely punctate, without smooth midline, punctures with microscopic setae and with a few long setae along apical margin.

Legs moderately broad; 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 medially straight, weakly widened in apical half and not serrate, dorsally not serrated, finely setose. Metatibia moderately broad and long, widest at apex, ratio width/ length: 1/ 3.3, dorsally sharply carinate, with two groups of spines, basal one shortly before middle, apical one at four fifths of metatibial length, basally with a few punctures, each bearing short single spines; lateral face longitudinally convex, with sparse and fine punctures in basal half, glabrous; ventral margin serrate, with three strong spines equidistant from each other, medial face not punctate, apex interiorly near tarsal articulation shallowly concave. Tarsomeres very sparsely and finely punctate dorsally, ventrally with sparse, short setae; metatarsomeres ventrally with a strongly serrated ridge, beside which is a strong longitudinal carina, first metatarsomere a little shorter than the two following segments combined and a little longer than the upper tibial spur. Protibia short, bidentate. All claws symmetrical, feebly curved and long, with normally developed basal tooth.

Aedeagus: Fig. 12 A–C. Habitus: Fig. 12D . Female unknown.

Diagnosis. Maladera anhuiensis Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu , sp. n. differs from the very similar M. infuscata in having the much narrower left paramere being both only half as wide as phallobase apex, while in M. infuscata both parameres are basally as wide as the apex of the phallobase.

Etymology. The name (adjective in the nominative singular case) of the new species is derived from the occurrence of the taxon in the Anhui province.

Variation. Length: 8.8–9.1 mm, length of elytra: 5.8–6.6 mm, width: 5.2–5.4 mm.

Distribution. See map ( Fig. 90 ) and Table 1.

Figures

FIGURE 12. A–D: Maladera anhuiensis Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, sp. n. (holotype); E–H: M. infuscata (Moser, 1915) (China: Hubei: Jiugongshan); I–L: M. diversipes (Moser, 1915) (China: Hubei: Wujiashan). 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 90. Distribution of the subgenus Omaladera: Maladera anhuiensis sp. n., M. businskyorum sp. n., M. cardoni (Brenske, 1896), M. dahongshanica sp. n., M. diversipes (Moser, 1915).