Maladera galdaththana, Ranasinghe & Eberle & Benjamin & Ahrens, 2020

Ranasinghe, Sasanka, Eberle, Jonas, Benjamin, Suresh P. & Ahrens, Dirk, 2020, New species of Sericini from Sri Lanka (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 621, pp. 1-20 : 8-11

Maladera galdaththana sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:1A8CD54B-2B9C-4CF1-B424-898A282B389A

Figs 4 A–D, 5C, 6C

Diagnosis

Maladera galdaththana sp. nov. is in shape of aedeagus rather similar to M. woodii Fabrizi & Ahrens, 2014 . The new species differs by the shorter parameres being at base also wider, by the denser long pilosity, and by the extremely long ventral metatibial spur which is apically curved ventrally.

Etymology

The new species is named after its type locality ‘Galdaththa’, a small undisturbed forest patch on a rock (adjective in the nominative singular).

Type material examined

Holotype

SRI LANKA • ♂; “ X-SR0036 , Sri Lanka , Kegalle District , Pannala , Galdaththa, Aranayake, 7.16154167N, 80.46388889E, 294m, Black light, 03-III-2019, Eberle & Ranasinghe ”; ZFMK.

Paratype

SRI LANKA • 1 ♂; “ X-SR0093 , Sri Lanka , Kegalle District, Alic Land Estate, 7,14420175N, 80,4502789E, 405m, Black light, 04-III-2019, Eberle & Ranasinghe ”; ZFMK .

Description

MEASUREMENTS. Length: 7.4 mm, length of elytra: 5.4 mm, width: 4.5 mm.

VARIATION. Length: 7.4–8.2 mm, length of elytra: 5.4–5.6 mm, width: 4.5–4.8 mm.

HABITUS AND COLORATION. Body oval, dark brown, antenna dark yellowish, labroclypeus moderately shiny, dorsal surface dull, with fine, sparse erect setae on the head, pronotum, and elytra.

HEAD. Labroclypeus trapezoidal, distinctly wider than long, widest at base, lateral margins convex and strongly convergent to broadly rounded anterior angles, lateral border and ocular canthus produce an indistinct blunt angle, margins weakly reflexed, anteriorly weakly medially; surface weakly convex, moderately shiny, basis narrowly dull, coarsely and densely punctate, distance between punctures less than their diameter, with erect setae in larger punctures; frontoclypeal suture feebly impressed and weakly angled medially; smooth area in front of eye approximately twice as wide as long; ocular canthus moderately long and narrow, finely punctate, with a single short terminal seta. Frons with fine, dense punctures, with dense erect setae being partly bent backwards. Eyes moderately large, ratio of diameter/ interocular width: 0.66. Antenna yellow, with ten antennomeres; club with three antennomeres, slightly longer than remaining antennomeres combined. Mentum elevated and anteriorly flattened.

PRONOTUM. Widest at base, lateral margins nearly straight and convergent anteriorly, in anterior third evenly convex and convergent to the anterior angles, anterior angles moderately produced and moderately acute, anterior margin straight, anterior marginal line very fine but complete medially; surface with fine dense punctures mixed with large dense punctures, with fine adpressed white setae in smaller punctures and long erect setae in larger ones; anterior and lateral borders setose, basal margin without marginal line; hypomeron ventrobasally carinate and slightly produced ventrally. Scutellum broad, triangular, with fine and dense punctures each bearing a single fine seta.

ELYTRA. Oblong, widest at middle, striae distinctly impressed, finely and densely punctate, intervals weakly convex, with fine, dense punctures concentrated along striae, with dense short white setae in punctures, odd intervals anteriorly with a few long erect setae; epipleural edge robust, ending at the weakly convex external apical angle of elytra, epipleura densely setose; apical border membranous, apex covered with short microtrichomes.

VENTRAL SURFACE. Partly dull partly moderately shiny, thorax and metacoxa with large and dense punctures, densely shortly setose, including metacoxa, the latter with numerous long setae laterally; each abdominal sternite, in addition to generally distributed fine and dense punctures with a distinct transverse row of coarse punctures each bearing a short seta, remainder punctures with short white 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/ 2.11. Median apophysis of metacoxa with normal fine setae. Pygidium moderately convex, coarsely and densely punctate, with a narrow, smooth midline, punctures with short white setae and with numerous erect setae of different length.

LEGS. Wide; femur with two longitudinal rows of setae, finely and densely punctate; metafemur shiny, anterior edge acute, lacking an adjacent serrated line, posterior ventral margin medially feebly concave, strongly widened in apical half and indistinctly serrate apically, dorsally not serrated, glabrous. Metatibia wide and short, widest at middle, ratio width/ length: 1/ 2.1, dorsally sharply carinate, with two groups of spines, basal one shortly behind middle, apical one at four fifths of metatibial length, basally beside dorsal margin with two robust spines; lateral face longitudinally convex, with dense, fine punctures, along the middle before apex impunctate, with minute setae in punctures; ventral margin with five strong spines equidistant from each other; medial face impunctate, apex interiorly near tarsal articulation shallowly concave. Meso- and metatarsomeres sparsely punctate dorsally and minutely setose, ventrally with sparse, short setae; metatarsomeres ventrally with a strongly serrated ridge, beside which is a strong longitudinal carina; first metatarsomere distinctly longer than following two tarsomeres and slightly shorter than extremely long (as long as metatarsomeres 1 and 2) and apically ventrally curved ventral tibial spur. Protibia short, bidentate. All claws symmetrical, feebly curved and long, with normally developed basal tooth.

AEDEAGUS. Fig. 4A – C.

HABITUS. Fig. 4D .

Female

Unknown.

Distribution

See Fig. 5C .

Figures

Fig. 4. A–D. Maladera galdaththana sp. nov. (holotype). E–H. M. cervicornis sp. nov. (holotype). A, E. Aedeagus, left side lateral view. C, G. Aedeagus, right side lateral view. B, F. Parameres, dorsal view. D, H. Habitus (not to scale). Scales: 0.5 mm.

Fig. 5. Distribution of the new species. A. Selaserica athukoralai sp. nov. B. Neoserica dharmapriyai sp. nov. C. Maladera galdaththana sp. nov. D. M. cervicornis sp. nov.