Maladera snizeki 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 : 131-133

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

Figures 28 E–I, 101

Type material examined. Holotype: ♂ “ Thailand bor. Chiang Dao env. 21.5.- 4.6.1995 lgt. Snizek M.” ( ZFMK) . Paratypes: 7 ♂♂, 6 ♀♀ “ Thailand bor. Chiang Dad [o] env. 21.5.- 4.6.1995 lgt. Snizek M.” ( ZFMK) , 1 ♂ “ Cheli , Yunnan, 16.IV. 1957, 620m, leg. Zang Lingchao ” ( IZAS) , 1 ♂ “ Ganlanba , Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, 15.IV. 1957, 540m, leg. Liu Dahua ” ( IZAS) .

Description. Length: 4.9 mm, length of elytra: 3.5 mm, width: 3.4 mm. Body oval, yellowish brown, head dark brown, antenna yellow, parts of head with greenish shine, dorsal surface dull, except some single setae on head dorsal surface nearly glabrous.

Labroclypeus wide and trapezoidal, shiny, widest at base, lateral margins nearly straight and strongly convergent anteriorly, anterior angles moderately rounded, anterior margin weakly emarginate, margins moderately reflexed; lateral margin and ocular canthus produce an indistinct blunt angle; surface weakly convex medially, coarsely and densely punctate, with numerous coarse punctures each bearing an erect seta; frontoclypeal suture indistinctly incised, medially angled; smooth area anterior to eye weakly convex, as wide as long; ocular canthus short and wide (one third of ocular diameter), finely and densely punctate, terminal seta lacking. Frons with fine, moderately dense punctures and a few single erect setae beside eyes and behind frontoclypeal suture. Eyes very small, ratio diameter/ interocular width: 0.38. Antenna with ten antennomeres; club with three antennomeres and straight, 1.1 times as long as remaining antennomeres combined. Mentum elevated and slightly flattened anteriorly.

Pronotum transverse, widest at base, lateral margins evenly convex, distinctly convergent anteriorly, anterior angles moderately produced and rectangular, posterior angles blunt, weakly rounded at tip; anterior margin convex, with fine and complete marginal line, base without marginal line; surface finely and densely punctate, glabrous; lateral and anterior margin finely setose; hypomeron carinate, not produced ventrally. Scutellum wide, triangular, dull, with fine, sparse punctures, impunctate on median base.

Elytra widest at middle, striae distinctly impressed, finely and sparsely punctate, intervals weakly convex, with fine and dense punctures concentrated along striae, with only a few short, setae on odd intervals; epipleural margin robust, ending at strongly curved external apical angle of elytra, epipleura densely setose; apical border of elytra not membraneous, without visible 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. 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 1.5 times as wide as mesofemur. Ratio of length of metepisternum/metacoxa: 1/1.78 Pygidium weakly convex and dull, coarsely and densely punctate, without smooth midline, glabrous except a few robust setae along apical margin.

Legs wide and short, shiny; femora with two longitudinal rows of setae, finely and sparsely punctate. Metafemur dull, with anterior margin acute, without serrated line behind anterior margin, setae of anterior row very short, posterior margin smooth and widened at apex ventrally, not serrate dorsally, with just a few short setae basally. Metatibia short, widest at middle, ratio of width/length: 1/2.3, sharply carinate dorsally, with two groups of spines, basal group at middle, apical group at three quarters of metatibial length, with a few short robust setae basally; lateral face longitudinally convex, sparsely punctate only on sides, glabrous; ventral margin finely serrate, with four robust equidistant setae; 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 distinctly shorter than following two tarsomeres combined and slightly longer than dorsal tibial spur. Protibia short, bidentate; anterior claws symmetrical, basal tooth of both claws bluntly truncate at apex.

Aedeagus: Fig. 28 E–H. Habitus: Fig. 28I .

Diagnosis. Maladera snizeki Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu , sp. n. may be differentiated from the similar M. fuscipes in having the body yellowish-brown and in the shape of the parameres where the basal lobes are much narrower and simply shaped compared to those of M. fuscipes .

Etymology. The species (noun in the genitive singular) is named after one of its collactors, M. Snizek.

Variation. Length: 4.9–5.4 mm, length of elytra: 3.5–3.6 mm, width: 3.4–3.8 mm. Female: eyes little smaller than in male, ratio of diameter/interocular width: 0.33; antennal club with three antennomeres, as long as remaining antennomeres combined; pygidium weakly convex.

Distribution. See map ( Fig. 101 ) and Table 1.

Figures

FIGURE 28. A–D: Maladera pseudofuscipes Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, sp. n. (holotype); E–I: M. snizeki Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, sp. n. (holotype); J–M: M. fangana Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, sp. n. (holotype). A, E, J: aedeagus, left side lateral view; C, H, L: aedeagus, right side lateral view; F: aedeagus, dorsal view; B, G, K: parameres, dorsal view; D, I, M: habitus. Scale: 0.5 mm. Habitus not to scale.

FIGURE 101. Distribution of the Maladera sikkimensis group: Maladera rufoplagiata (Fairmaire, 1893), M. serratiforceps sp. n., M. snizeki sp. n..