Maladera shikengkongensis Zhao & Ahrens 2023, new species
Creators: name: Zhao, Ming-Zhi
name: Ahrens, Dirk
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Scarabaeidae
Maladera
Maladera shikengkongensis

description: Maladera shikengkongensis Zhao & Ahrens, new species
(Figs 10E–F, 11C)
Type material examined. Holotype. ♂ (SCAU), “ CHINA: Guangdong, Shaoguan, Nanling N. R., nr. Shikengkong, N 24°55′40″, E 112°59′2″, 1660 m, 30.V–4.VI.2022 (at light), lgt. Ye XH, Zhan BX & Ma YS”. Paratypes. 4♂♂, 1♀ (CZMZ, SCAU), same data as holotype; 1♂ (SCAU), “ CHINA: Guangdong, Shaoguan, Nanling N. R., nr. Shikengkong, N 24°55′40″, E 112°59′2″, 1660 m, 30.V–4.VI.2022 (at light), lgt. Ye XH, Zhan BX & Ma YS // Se-MS-1”; 1♂ (SCAU), “ Guangdong, Nanling, 2009-V-8, leg. Ling Xie ”.
Description of the holotype. General. Body elongated ovoid, moderately convex, color generally reddish brown and weakly dull, with some iridescence; frons dark green, dull; pronotum and ventral thoracic surface dark green. Labroclypeus shiny, basal half darker; antennae, palpi and legs yellowish brown, shiny. Spiniform setae reddish brown, other setae yellowish brown.
Head. Labroclypeus trapezoidal, wider than long, ratio of maximum length/ width:1/ 1.75;lateral margins straight and weakly convergent anteriad, anterior angles rounded, anterior margin moderately emarginate medially; margins strongly but laterally weakly reflexed; disc slightly bulging, surface with moderately dense and large punctures and a few short, erect setae; frontoclypeal suture finely incised, distinctly curved medially; smooth area anterior to eye large and flat, almost 3 times wider than long; ocular canthus triangular (equal to 1/3 of ocular diameter), apex with some minute punctures and a few erect setae. Frons flat, with a longitudinal and weakly convex midline, surface punctate as labroclypeus, inner margin of eye with several short, erect setae. Eyes large, ratio diameter/ interocular width: 0.85. Antenna with ten antennomeres; antennomeres 3 to 5 tend to fuse, antennomere 6 triangular, antennomere 7 transverse and short; club with three antennomeres, twice as long as remaining antennomeres combined and strongly curved. Mentum strongly and transversely elevated anteriorly. Labrum strongly produced, narrowly and distinctly concave.
Pronotum subtrapezoidal, widest at base, lateral margins evenly curved and convergent anteriad; anterior angle weakly produced, both anterior and posterior angles rounded at tip; hypomeron weakly carinate at base; anterior margin with a fine and complete marginal line; surface with dense and large punctures, anterior and lateral margins with sparse, long, and erect setae.
Scutellum large, triangular, apex somewhat rounded; basomedial and apical portions impunctate, otherwise with dense and small punctures, glabrous.
Elytra elongated ovoid, widest shortly behind middle. Striae strongly impressed, with dense and large strial punctures, lateral margin beside humerus with a long, erect seta; intervals weakly convex, with dense and large punctures concentrated along striae, otherwise sparsely punctate, elytral surface with sparse, short, erect setae. Epipleura wide, ending at moderately curved external apical angle of elytron, with a row of dense and long semi-erect setae, interspersed with some minute setae; apex with a short spiniform seta, posterior margin with a fine membranous rim composed of microtrichomes.
Ventral thoracic surface including metacoxa with dense and large punctures each bearing a short semi-erect seta, metasternum setose laterally and basally, metacoxa with only a few setae laterally. Mesosternum between mesocoxae equal to width of mesofemur, somewhat vertically convex, with rather long and spiniform setae. Ratio of length of metepisternum/ metacoxa: 1/ 1.33.
Abdomen. Abdominal ventrites with sparse and small punctures, each ventrite with a transverse row of short and spiniform setae, setae moderately long laterally and lacking on ultimate ventrite. Ultimate ventrite at middle almost half as long as penultimate one, with sparse and long setae, posterior margin with very dense and short setae. Pygidium weakly convex, posterior margin weakly reflexed; with sparse small punctures, with some moderately long setae near apical margins.
Femora. Pro- and metafemora shiny, mesofemur dull, each femur with two longitudinal rows of sparse punctures each bearing a short seta. Metafemur with sharply carinated anterior margin, ventral posterior margin finely serrate in apical third, dorsal posterior margin strongly and completely serrate, some minute setae and a single spiniform seta situated between latter two margins.
Tibiae. Protibia slender, bidentate, teeth rounded, external margin not serrate. Metatibia long and rather slender, widest shortly before apex, ratio of width/ length: 1/ 4.0; dorsal margin completely carinate; lateral face with sparse and small punctures, dorsally with two groups of spiniform setae touching the dorsal margin, basal group at two fifths, distal group shortly before four fifths of metatibial length, basally with a short single seta; ventral margin convex, serrate except for basal fifth, with three long and spiniform setae of which distal two are widely distant, base with several minute setae; medial face with sparse and small punctures, glabrous; apex interiorly serrate, near tarsal articulation bluntly truncate.
Tarsi. Protarsomeres short, pro- and mesotarsomeres with sparse and minute setae ventrally. All metatarsomere carinate ventrolaterally, strongly serrate ventrally, first metatarsomere slightly shorter than following two tarsomeres combined and little longer than dorsal tibial spur. Protarsal claws symmetric basal tooth twice wider than distal one.
Male genitalia. Fig. 11C.
Variation.Female. Labroclypeus entirely dark green.Antennal club slightly shorter than remaining antennomeres combined and straight; eyes smaller than in male, ratio diameter/ interocular width: 0.64; protibia much stouter.
Measurements. Length: 10.0– 10.4 mm in males (holotype 10.0 mm), 10.7 mm in female; length of elytra: 7.0– 7.5 mm in males (holotype 7.0 mm), 7.6 mm in female; width: 5.1–5.4 mm in males (holotype 5.1 mm), 5.6 mm in female.
Diagnosis. Maladera shikengkongensis Zhao & Ahrens, new species is most similar to M. qianqingtangensis Ahrens, Fabrizi & Liu, 2021; both species share minute setae on the surface of the apical paramere. Its left paramere is strongly reduced in length, and the right one cylindrical and much longer, while in M. qianqingtanensis both parameres are short and curved.
Etymology. The species name derives from its type locality, Shikengkong in Nanling Nature Reserve.
description: Published as part of Zhao, Ming-Zhi & Ahrens, Dirk, 2023, New species of the tribe Sericini Kirby, 1837 from China, with further updates on their taxonomy and distribution (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Sericinae), pp. 181-220 in Zootaxa 5361 (2) on pages 212-214, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5361.2.3, http://zenodo.org/record/10150449