Maladera windy Ranasinghe & Eberle & Athukorala & Benjamin & Ahrens 2022, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Ranasinghe, Sasanka
name: Eberle, Jonas
name: Athukorala, Namal
name: Benjamin, Suresh P.
name: Ahrens, Dirk
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Melolonthidae
Maladera
Maladera windy

description: Maladera windy sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 0FAD16C9-9434-4A0F-9D11-42A464F3F2BB
Figs 4I–L, 7F, 8E
Diagnosis
The new species is very similar to M. pubescens (Arrow, 1916) and M. dambullana sp. nov. as well as M. bisornata Fabrizi & Ahrens, 2014. Maladera windy sp. nov. differs from the first two by the distal aedeagal lobe (i.e., the fused parameres) having a basal lateral lobe with grater-like surface, the ventral process of phallobase is shorter, less pointed and not mesally extended; from M. bisornata, M. windy sp. nov. differs by the longer and slightly reflexed distal aedeagal lobe (i.e., the fused parameres).
Etymology
The name of the new species is derived from ‘Windy Holiday Bungalow’, where the research group stayed during the second expedition in Knuckles region (noun in apposition).
Type material
Holotype SRI LANKA • ♂; “ X-SR0769, Sri Lanka, Deenston, Knuckles South, 7.35771ºN, 80.85006ºE, 980m, 17-X-2019, Eberle, Bohacz & Ranasinghe, Light sheet ”; ZFMK.
Paratypes SRI LANKA • 1 ♂; “ X-SR0757, Sri Lanka, Deenston, Knuckles South, 7.35771ºN, 80.85006ºE, 980m, 17-X-2019, Eberle, Bohacz & Ranasinghe, Light sheet ”; ZFMK • 1 ♂; “ X-SR0790, Sri Lanka, Deenston, Knuckles South, 7.35771ºN, 80.85006ºE, 980m, 17-X-2019, Eberle, Bohacz & Ranasinghe, Light sheet ”; ZFMK • 1 ♂; “ X-SR0580, Sri Lanka, Deenston, Knuckles South, 7.35771ºN, 80.85006ºE, 980m, 16-X-2019, Eberle, Bohacz & Ranasinghe, Light sheet ”; ZFMK • 1 ♀; “ X-SR0572, Sri Lanka, Deenston, Knuckles South, 7.35771ºN, 80.85006ºE, 980m, 16-X-2019, Eberle, Bohacz & Ranasinghe, Light sheet ”; ZFMK • 1 ♀; “ X-SR0574, Sri Lanka, Deenston, Knuckles South, 7.35771ºN, 80.85006ºE, 980m, 16-X-2019, Eberle, Bohacz & Ranasinghe, Light sheet ”; ZFMK • 1 ♀; “ X-SR0575, Sri Lanka, Deenston, Knuckles South, 7.35771ºN, 80.85006ºE, 980m, 16-X-2019, Eberle, Bohacz & Ranasinghe, Light sheet ”; ZFMK.
Description
MEASUREMENTS. Length: 6.0 mm, length of elytra: 4.1 mm, width: 3.4 mm. HABITUS (Fig. 4L) AND COLOURATION. Body short oval, yellowish brown, antenna yellow, dorsal surface shiny, densely finely setose.
HEAD. Labroclypeus subtrapezoidal, distinctly wider than long, widest at base, lateral margins weakly convex and strongly convergent to widely rounded anterior angles, lateral border and ocular canthus producing an indistinct blunt angle, margins moderately reflexed, anteriorly distinctly sinuate medially; surface flat, finely and densely punctate, distance between punctures smaller than their diameter, with numerous erect setae in larger punctures; frontoclypeal suture fine and angled medially; smooth area in front of eye approximately twice as wide as long; ocular canthus short and narrow, finely and densely punctate, with a single short terminal seta. Frons with fine, dense punctures, with dense short and sparse long erect setae. Eyes large, ratio of diameter/interocular width: 0.85. Antenna yellow, with ten antennomeres; club with three antennomeres, as long as remaining antennomeres combined. Mentum elevated and anteriorly flattened.
PRONOTUM. Moderately wide, widest at base, lateral margins weakly convex and evenly narrowed anteriorly, anterior angles strongly produced and sharp, anterior marginal line fine and complete, anterior margin weakly produced medially; surface finely and densely punctate, with dense moderately long setae being bent posteriorly on entire disc and with a few sparse longer setae being directed anteriorly; anterior and lateral borders setose, basal margin without marginal line; hypomeron ventrobasally carinate and slightly produced ventrally. Scutellum short and wide, triangular, with fine and dense punctures, with fine and dense adjacent setae.
ELYTRA. Short oval, widest shortly behind middle, striae indistinctly impressed, finely and densely punctate, intervals flat, with fine, very dense punctures, with numerous fine setae similar to those of the pronotum and a few sparser ones being longer and erect or directed anteriorly, in particular on lateral intervals; epipleural edge fine, ending at the weakly convex external apical angle of elytra, epipleura densely setose; apical border narrowly membranous, apex covered with short microtrichomes.
VENTRAL SURFACE. Moderately shiny, thorax and metacoxa with large and dense punctures, densely setose, metacoxa glabrous except for numerous long setae laterally; each abdominal sternite, in addition to evenly distributed fine and dense punctures bearing each a fine seta, with a distinct transverse row of coarse punctures each bearing a long and more robust seta, penultimate sternite apically with a shiny smooth chitinous border, which is a quarter as long as the sternite. Mesosternum between mesocoxae as wide as mesofemur, with a semi-circular ridge bearing robust setae. Ratio of length of metepisternum/ metacoxa: 1/1.9. Pygidium moderately convex, finely and very densely punctate, without smooth midline, punctures with short and moderately dense, adjacent setae, along the apical margin with a few long erect setae.
LEGS. Short and wide; femur with two longitudinal rows of setae, finely and densely punctate, densely setose; metafemur shiny, anterior edge acute, lacking an adjacent serrated line, ventral surface densely punctate and setose, posterior ventral margin straight, only little widened in apical half and very indistinctly serrate apically, dorsally not serrated, glabrous. Metatibia short, widest at middle, posteriorly slightly narrowed, ratio width/length: 1/2.6, 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 single punctures with serrated margins, each bearing single spines and beside them a longitudinal serrated line; lateral face almost flat, with dense, fine punctures and with minute setae; ventral margin with five strong spines equidistant from each other, medial face smooth, apex interiorly near tarsal articulation shallowly truncate. Meso- and metatarsomeres finely and densely punctate and setose dorsally, ventrally with sparse, short setae; metatarsomeres ventrally with a strongly serrated ridge, beside which is a strong longitudinal carina; first metatarsomere little shorter than following two tarsomeres combined and a little longer than dorsal tibial spur. Protibia short, bidentate. All claws symmetrical, feebly curved and long, with normally developed basal tooth.
AEDEAGUS. Fig. 4I–K.
Variation
Length: 6.0– 6.4 mm, length of elytra: 4.0– 4.6 mm, width: 3.2–3.4 mm.
Female
Length: 6.5–6.8 mm, length of elytra: 4.6–5.0 mm, width: 3.6–3.7 mm. Eyes slightly smaller than in male; antennal club little shorter than the remaining antennomeres combined.
Distribution
See Fig. 7F.
description: Published as part of Ranasinghe, Sasanka, Eberle, Jonas, Athukorala, Namal, Benjamin, Suresh P. & Ahrens, Dirk, 2022, New species of Sericini from Sri Lanka (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae). Part II, pp. 57-101 in European Journal of Taxonomy 821 (1) on pages 75-77, DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2022.821.1799, http://zenodo.org/record/6595468