Nanling anomala (Anomala nanlingensis) and Yu-Chen Zheng anomala (Anomala zhengyucheni)

NEWS - Researchers discovered two new species: Nanling anomala (Anomala nanlingensis Zhao, Zorn & Liu, sp. nov.) and Yu-Chen Zheng anomala (Anomala zhengyucheni Zhao, Zorn & Liu, sp. nov.) while investigating the taxonomy of Anomala fuscosignata-complex from southern China and northern Vietnam through direct morphological comparison and molecular phylogenetic analysis.

Anomala Samouelle 1819 has a significant increase in the number of species in southern China, Indochina and Wallacea. Anomala spiloptera group is characterized by parameres usually very elongated and connected by a wide wrinkled membrane dorso-basally, the ventral plate is usually equipped with a long process resembling a narrow blade.

Now researchers have found such a membrane also in the Vietnamese species A. fuscosignata Ohaus 1905 and A. luminosa Benderitter 1929. However, it differs from all members of the A. spiloptera group by having rather simple spots on the pronotum and elytra (vs. solid transverse spots) and a pointed ventral plate (vs. flat or blade-shaped).

A. nanlingensis is 11.6–14.0 mm long in males (holotype 12.9 mm), 13.0–14.1 mm in females; 5.5–7.0 mm wide in males (holotype 6.5 mm) and 6.5–7.2 mm wide in females. The new species has a distribution in Guangdong, Guangxi. The name is based on the Nanling Nature Reserve, the type locality and the place where it was first found. Chinese common name: 南岭异丽金龟.

A. zhengyucheni is 12.3–13.8 mm long in males (holotype 13.5 mm), 12.5–13.3 mm in females; 6.2–7.0 mm wide in males (holotype 7.0 mm) and 6.5–7.0 mm wide in females. Distribution in Fujian. The new species is dedicated to Yu-Chen Zheng, a neurologist who collected and provided the type series to the research team. Chinese common name: 昱辰异丽金龟.

A. nanlingensis and A. zhengyucheni differ from A. fuscosignata (Ohaus, 1905) and A. luminosa Benderitter 1929 by the rounded or nearly truncated parameres at the apex (vs. strongly apically constricted parameres forming short, downward projections in A. fuscosignata and A. luminosa). The female genitalia have a longer and flatter vagina (vs. a shorter and thicker vagina).

A. nanlingensis can be distinguished from the very similar A. zhengyucheni by its greenish color, sharp and straight or slightly upward-pointing ventral aedeagus plate (vs. slightly blunt and downward-pointing in A. zhengyucheni). The dorsal paraprocts of the female genitalia differ significantly in that the distal margin is notched (vs. truncated in A. zhengyucheni).

Anomalini usually show clear interspecific variation in male genitalia, but female genitalia are poorly studied. Most females are associated with a particular male by external features or location and focus on the shape of the gonococcyx, called the vaginal palps.

The strong interspecific differences in dorsal paraprocts and vaginas observed in the A. fuscosignata complex highlight the importance of examining the entire female genitalia of Anomalini for taxonomic purposes.

The present case also demonstrates a discrepancy between morphospecies and genospecies. The p-distance based on the COI data set indicates deeper genetic divergence between the two A. nanlingensis populations than between A. fuscosignata and A. luminosa. This may have led to the merging of the latter two species in the ABGD and bPTP species delimitations.

Original research

Ming-Zhi Zhao, Carsten Zorn & Wei-Xin Liu (2024). Exploring the Anomala fuscosignata-complex: discovery of two new species from southern China (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Rutelinae). Zootaxa 5528 (1): 283–299, DOI:10.11646/zootaxa.5528.1.20

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