Megistophylla grandicornis
Creators: name: Gao, Chuan-Bu
name: Li, Chun-Lin
name: Fang, Hong
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Melolonthidae
Megistophylla
Megistophylla grandicornis

description: Megistophylla grandicornis (Fairmaire, 1891)
(Figs. 3, 4, 12–18, 26–32, 38–42)
Hecatomnus grandicornis Fairmaire, 1891: 202; Zhang & Li 1997: 772.
Megistophylla grandicornis: Arrow 1944: 634.
Type locality. “Kiu-Kiang” [= China: Jiangxi Province: Jiujiang City]. Type material examined. None.
Additional material examined. Male, labeled: “ Chongqing Fengjie / Peng Yang [Collector] / 2011. 5. 11 [typeset, Chinese] // Co-21-9759 / SWU [typeset] // Megistophylla grandicornis / (Fairmaire, 1891) / det. GCHB 2018 [handwritten or typeset]”, deposited in SWU; male: “Yunana Kunming / Fengbo [Collector] / 2009. 0 5. 30 // Co-21-9063 / SWU // Megistophylla grandicornis / (Fairmaire, 1891) / det. GCHB 2018 [handwritten or typeset]”, deposited in SWU; male: “Kunming Wenquan [Town] / 1980.?. 15 [handwritten] // Hecatomnus / grandicornis Fairm / Gu [19]90. 9. 14 [handwritten] // Megistophylla grandicornis / (Fairmaire, 1891) / det. GCHB 2018 [handwritten or typeset]”, deposited in SYAU; male: “Gu 43 / Meitan [handwritten, Chinese] // 0 0 6 / Shennong [handwritten, Chinese] // Hecatomnus / grandicornis Fairm / Gu [19]90. 9. 14 [handwritten] // Megistophylla grandicornis / (Fairmaire, 1891) / det. GCHB 2018 [handwritten or typeset]”, deposited in SYAU; male: “ Guizhou [handwritten, Chinese] // 0 16 [handwritten] // Hecatomnus / grandicornis Fairm / Gu [19]90. 9. 14 [handwritten] // Megistophylla grandicornis / (Fairmaire, 1891) / det. GCHB 2018 [handwritten or typeset]”, deposited in SYAU; male: “ Fujian Liancheng Taipingliao / 1989. 6. 21 / Collector Jizu Zhang [handwritten, Chinese] // 56 [handwritten] // Hecatomnus / grandicornis Fairm / Gu [19]90. 9. 14 [handwritten] // Megistophylla grandicornis / (Fairmaire, 1891) / det. GCHB 2018 [handwritten or typeset]”, deposited in SYAU; male: “3895 / Zhejiang Songyang [handwritten, Chinese] // Hecatomnus / grandicornis / Fairmaire 1991.?. 13 / Collector Zhiliang Zhang [handwritten, Chinese] // Megistophylla grandicornis / (Fairmaire, 1891) / det. GCHB 2018 [handwritten or typeset]”, deposited in SYAU; male: “Kunming Wenquan [Town] / 1980.?. 21 [handwritten] // Hecatomnus / grandicornis Fairm / Gu [19]90. 9. 14 [handwritten] // grandicornis / (Fairmaire, 1891) / det. GCHB 2018 [handwritten or typeset]”, deposited in SYAU.
Redescription (males) (Figs. 3, 4, 12–18, 26–32, 38–42). Body length 17.3–22.6 mm; width across humeri 8.1–10.1 mm; body oval-elongate, dorsal surface glabrous and punctate, shiny (Figs. 3, 4).
Colour: Head, antennae, pronotum and scutellum reddish brown; elytra and legs brown to dark brown.
Head: Antennae with 10 antennomeres, antennal club composed of 5 antennomeres, curved vertically in apical half, club 2.4–2.6 times longer than antennomeres 1–5 combined; fifth basal antennomere sharply enlarged (Fig. 12). Clypeus dense punctate, anterior margin bow-shaped, emarginate and reflexed. frons punctate, punctures denser than those on pronotum and elytra, slightly convex at middle. Frontoclypeal suture defined. Frontal carina distinctly raised transversally, bent forwards medially (Fig. 13). Clypeus wider and shorter than frons. Frons between eyes 3.0–3.1 times wider than eye. Ocular canthus setaceous, length of canthus 0.7 mm.
Mouthparts: Labrum strongly depressed at middle (Fig. 14). Mandible with developed wrinkled molar lobe and one big rounded notch one small notch in incisor lobe (Figs. 15, 16). Mala of maxillae bears 4 distal teeth developed (Fig. 17). Mentum bilobate at apical half; paraglossae with few setae near inner margin (Fig. 18).
Thorax: Pronotal surface glabrous and dense punctate. Widest of pronotum at basal 2/5; anterior, posterior and lateral margins smooth; lateral margin reflexed moderately; anterior angles obtuse; posterior obtuse rounded (Fig. 26); pronotum with 7–10 long setae close to lateral margin at anterior half. Scutellum triangular, punctate laterally, 1.5-1.6 times wider than long (Fig. 27). Ventral surface of thorax with long, soft yellow setae. Prosternal process wedge-shaped (Fig. 28). Dorsal surface of elytra glabrous and punctate, sutural costa developed, epipleuron with soft setae before apex (Figs. 3, 4).
Legs: Protibia tridentate; apical spur of protibia sharp, tip reaching basal 1/3 of protarsomere 1. Metafemora covered with soft setae near anterior and rough setae near posterior margins. Outer side of metatibia with carina pubescent at apical 2/5. Dorsolateral margin of metatibia with a thorn at basal 1/4; dorsomedial margin with 3–6 thorns weakly developed (Fig. 29). Apex of metatibia with two lanceolate spurs of different sizes. Metatarsi slightly longer than metatibia. Basal metatarsomere equal in length to metatarsomere 2 (Fig. 30). Each claw with a tooth vertically medially (Fig. 31).
Abdomen: Ventrite 2 with dense short setae; ventrites 5, 6 setiferous, setae long and sparsely distributed. Pygidium fan-shaped, 1.3-1.4 times wider than long, convex at middle; dorsal surface punctate; apex with setae sparsely distributed (Fig. 32).
Genitalia: Phallobase shorter than parameres; phallobase connected to parameres by a triangular membrane on dorsum (Figs. 38). Parameres goose-head-like, with a central concave area and tip rounded in lateral view; bases of parameres of lateral and dorsal branches enclosed with a trapezoidal membranous area (Figs. 38, 39, 40, 41). Endophallus with slender temones in dorsum and a hemispherical lobe covered with dense punctual sensillae in distal part (Fig. 42). Spiculum gastrale T-shaped.
Female. Not studied.
Diagnosis. Megistophylla grandicornis can be clearly distinguished from other Megistophylla species by the following combination of characters: antennal club composed of 5 long antennomeres, club curved vertically in apical half, length of club 2.4–2.6 times longer than basal antennomeres; head, pronotum, elytra with dorsum glabrous; pronotum with lateral margin smooth; pronotum with 7–10 long setae close to lateral margin at anterior half; epipleuron with long soft setae before apex; outer side of metatibia with completed carina; parameres goosehead-like.
Distribution. China (Chongqing, Hubei, Hunan, Guangxi, Guizhou, Jiangxi, Yunnan, Zhejiang) (Li et al. 2016), above mentioned specimens represent the first record from Fujian Province.
Chinese name. 巨角多鳃金龟
Remarks. Unfortunately, we are unable to examine female specimens of Megistophylla grandicornis. All the specimens mentioned above were collected by light trapping, females of M. grandicornis might have negative phototactic response. The antennal club is composed of 5 antennomeres in the female, and is distinctly shorter than those in the male (Xu et al. 2012). Megistophylla grandicornis is a severe pest in southern China. The larvae feed on the underground parts of chestnut, oak and eucalyptus; the adults feed on the foliages of chestnut, tobacco, persimmon, bamboo, pear, apple, walnut and waxberry (Hu et al. 2010, Xu et al. 2012). The adults of the species emerge from May to June with one generation per year and overwinter as larvae in Yunnan Province (Hu et al. 2010).
description: Published as part of Gao, Chuan-Bu, Li, Chun-Lin & Fang, Hong, 2019, Megistophylla octobracchia Gao & Li, new species (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae) from Yunnan, China, and redescription of M. grandicornis (Fairmaire, 1891), pp. 515-522 in Zootaxa 4565 (4) on pages 518-520, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4565.4.5, http://zenodo.org/record/2591335