Maladera songi 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 : 171-173

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

Figures 38 E–H, 106

Type material examined. Holotype: ♂ “[ China] Mt. Jianfengling , Hainan, 21.III.1984, leg. Song Shimei ” ( IZAS) . Paratypes: 1 ♂ “[ China] Tianchi, Mt. Jianfengling , Hainan, 19.II.1982, leg. Liang Shaoying ” ( LSSYU) , 1 ♂ “[China] Mts. Yinggeling , Hainan, 2-6.XII.2007, leg. Li Jing ” ( ZFMK) .

Description. Length: 10.7 mm, length of elytra: 8.0 mm, width: 6.9 mm. Body oblong-oval, dark reddish brown, antenna yellow, labroclypeus shiny, dorsal face dull, nearly glabrous.

Labroclypeus wide and subtrapezoidal, widest at base, lateral margins weakly convex and strongly convergent anteriorly, anterior angles moderately rounded, anterior margin weakly emarginate, margins moderately reflexed; lateral margin and ocular canthus produce an indistinct angle; surface weakly convex medially, coarsely, very densely punctate, with a few long setae anteriorly; frontoclypeal suture distinctly incised, weakly curved; smooth area anterior to eye convex, twice as wide as long; ocular canthus moderately long and wide (1/3 of ocular diameter), finely densely punctate, with a terminal seta. Frons dull, with dense and coarse punctures behind frontoclypeal suture, otherwise punctures sparser, with a few single setae beside eyes. Eyes small, ratio diameter/ interocular width: 0.58. Antenna with ten antennomeres; club with three antennomeres and straight, 1.6 times as long as remaining antennomeres combined. Mentum elevated and slightly flattened anteriorly.

Pronotum transverse, widest at base, lateral margins in basal half nearly straight and weakly convergent anteriorly, in anterior half convex and more convergent, anterior angles distinctly produced and sharp, posterior angles blunt; anterior margin weakly convex, with fine marginal line, base without marginal line; surface densely and coarsely punctate, with minute setae in punctures being as long as puncture diameter, otherwise glabrous; anterior and lateral margin densely setose; hypomeron carinate, not produced ventrally. Scutellum wide, triangular, with fine, dense punctures.

Elytra widest in posterior third, striae finely impressed, finely and densely punctate, intervals flat, with fine, sparse punctures and with minute setae in punctures, penultimate lateral interval with a few single setae; epipleural margin robust, ending at apical external angle of elytra, epipleura densely setose; apical border of elytra membraneous, with a very fine rim of microtrichomes (visible at ca 100x magnification).

Ventral surface dull, coarsely and densely punctate, metasternum including disc densely setose; metacoxa glabrous, with a few longer setae laterally. Abdominal sternites finely and densely punctate, punctures with minute setae, each sternite with a transverse row of punctures each bearing a fine seta. Mesosternum between mesocoxae as wide as mesofemur. Ratio of length of metepisternum/metacoxa: 1/1.49. Pygidium moderately convex, weakly shiny, coarsely and densely punctate, without smooth midline, with a few long but fine setae along apical margin.

Legs moderately long and wide, shiny; femora with two longitudinal rows of setae, finely and sparsely punctate. Anterior margin of metafemur acute, without adjacent continuous serrated line, anterior row of setae complete and duplicate; posterior ventral margin smooth, weakly widened at ventral apex, dorsal posterior margin smooth, neither serrate, with a few single long setae. Metatibia moderately long and moderately wide, widest shortly before apex, ratio of width/length: 1/2.7, sharply carinate dorsally, with two groups of spines, basal group at middle, apical group at three quarters of metatibial length, in basal half with a few short and robust single setae and a continuous serrated line beside basal 1/5 of dorsal margin; lateral face longitudinally convex, except a few punctures on sides and base smooth and glabrous; ventral margin finely serrate, with four equidistant robust setae; medial face smooth and glabrous; apex finely serrate, distinctly concavely emarginate interiorly near tarsal articulation. Tarsomeres dorsally impunctate, glabrous, neither laterally nor dorsally carinate, moderately setose ventrally; metatarsomeres with a strongly serrated ridge ventrally and a smooth subventral longitudinal carina, glabrous; first metatarsomere distinctly shorter than following two tarsomeres combined and distinctly longer than dorsal tibial spur. Protibia short, bidentate; anterior claws symmetrical, basal tooth of both claws bluntly truncate at apex.

Aedeagus: Fig. 38 E–G. Habitus: Fig. 38H . Female unknown.

Diagnosis. Maladera songi Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu , sp. n. differs from all other species of the Maladera nitens group by the dark and dull surface, anterior margin of the metafemur lacking adjacent serrated line, and the metatibia lacking a serrated line at base beside its dorsal margin.

Etymology. The new species is named after one of its collectors, Song Shimei (noun in genitive singular).

Variation. Length: 10.1–10.6 mm, length of elytra: 7.5–8.5 mm, width: 6.2–6.9 mm.

Distribution. See map ( Fig. 106 ) and Table 1.

Figures

FIGURE 38. A–D: Maladera rufonitida Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, sp. n. (holotype); E–H: M. songi Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, sp. n. (holotype); I–L: M. detersa (Erichson, 1834) (Vietnam: DaNang). 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 106. Distribution of the Maladera nitens group: Maladera paranitens sp. n., M. pseudonitens sp. n., M. rufonitida sp. n., M. songi sp. n..