Maladera uncipenis 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 : 252-254

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

Figures 59 A–D, 124

Type material examined. Holotype: ♂ “CH-Guizhou NE 27.V.-3.VI. 20km NW of Jiangkou , 1995 Fanjing Shan-Kuaichang E. Jendek & O. Šauša leg./ Coll. P. Pacholatko Invt. No. / CS24/ 569 Sericini Asia spec.” ( CP) . Paratypes: 1 ♂ “CH-Guizhou NE 27.V.-3.VI. 20km NW of Jiangkou , 1995 Fanjing Shan-Kuaichang E. Jendek & O. Šauša leg.” ( ZFMK) , 1 ♂, 1 ♀ “China-Guizhou 21-26.V. 60 km N of Kali , 1995 Shibing-Yuntai Shan E. Jendek & O. Šauša leg.” ( CP) , 1 ♂ “[ China] Xiqian, Nanping , Fujian, 24.IV.1981 ” ( IZAS) .

Description. Length: 9.5 mm, length of elytra: 7.0 mm, width: 5.4 mm. Body oval, dark yellowish brown, head and disc of pronotum darker, antenna yellow, labroclypeus weakly shiny, remainder of dorsal surface dull, glabrous.

Labroclypeus subtrapezoidal, little wider than long, widest at base, lateral margins straight and moderately convergent to moderately rounded anterior angles, lateral margin and ocular canthus producing a blunt angle, margins moderately reflexed; anterior margin weakly emarginate medially; surface flat, finely and coarsely, densely punctate, with a few long, erect setae anteriorly; frontoclypeal suture weakly impressed and angled medially; smooth area in front of eye approximately 1.5 times as wide as long; ocular canthus short and fine, finely punctate, with a terminal seta. Frons with fine, dense punctures, glabrous except for a few setae beside eyes. Eyes small, ratio of diameter/interocular width: 0.57. Antenna composed of 10 antennomeres, club with 3 antennomeres, straight, 1.3 times as long as remaining antennomeres combined. Mentum anteriorly elevated and flattened.

Pronotum subtrapezoidal, widest at base, lateral margins in basal half straight, weakly convergent anteriorly, in anterior half weakly convex and convergent, anterior angles moderately produced but sharp; anterior margin weakly convex, marginal line narrowly interrupted medially; surface finely and moderately densely punctate, with minute setae in punctures; anterior and lateral margins sparsely setose. Scutellum wide, triangular, with fine and dense punctures each bearing a minute seta, base at middle impunctate.

Elytra oblong, widest at posterior third, striae distinctly impressed, finely and densely punctate, intervals weakly elevated, with fine, moderately dense punctures concentrated along striae, odd intervals with a few fine, erect, short setae, otherwise punctures with minute setae; epipleural margin robust, ending at strongly rounded external apical angle of elytra, epipleura sparsely setose, apical border membraneous, with a rim of very 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 short chitinous border. Mesosternum between mesocoxae narrower than mesofemur. Ratio of length of metepisternum/metacoxa: 1/1.46. Pygidium moderately convex, dull, with fine moderately dense punctures and a few longer setae at apex.

Legs moderately wide and 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, not widened in apical half, entirely serrate, dorsal margin also serrate, finely setose. Metatibia moderately wide and long, widest at apex, ratio width/length: 1/3.6, dorsally sharply carinate, with two groups of spines, basal one shortly before middle, apical one at three quarters of metatibial length, in basal half with a few punctures, and short spines; lateral face longitudinally convex, with moderately dense and fine longitudinally impressed punctures; ventral margin serrate, with two widely distant spines; medial face finely sparsely punctate, apex interiorly near tarsal articulation shallowly concave. Tarsomeres coarsely punctate dorsally, ventrally with sparse, short setae; metatarsomeres with a strongly serrated ridge ventrally and a smooth subventral longitudinal carina; first metatarsomere as long as 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. 59 A–C. Habitus: Fig. 59D .

Diagnosis. Maladera uncipenis Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu , sp. n. differs from the rather similar Maladera chinensis (Moser) in having the tarsomeres punctate dorsally, the labrum not produced anteriorly and shallowly emarginate medially, rather than being produced anteriorly and deeply emarginate as in M. chinensis .

Etymology. The name of the new species (adjective in the nominative singular) is derived from the combined Latin words uncus (hook-shaped), and penis (penis), with reference to the hook-like shape of the right paramere.

Variation. Length: 8.8–10.0 mm, length of elytra: 6.6–7.4 mm, width: 5.0– 5.6 mm. Female: eyes little smaller than in male, ratio of diameter/interocular width: 0.51; antennal club with three antennomeres, little shorter than remaining antennomeres combined; pygidium weakly convex.

Distribution. See map ( Fig. 124 ) and Table 1.

Figures

FIGURE 59. A–D: Maladera uncipenis Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, sp. n. (holotype); E–H: M. qianqingtangensis Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, sp. n. (holotype); I–L: M. dadongshanica 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 124. Distribution of the Maladera uncipenis group: Maladera tiammushanica sp. n., M. tianzushanica sp. n., M. uncipenis sp. n., M. xinqiaoensis sp. n..