Melolontha, Fabricius, 1775

Wang, Fa-Lei, Wang, Zhen, Xiong, Zi-Chun & Qiu, Jian-Yue, 2025, Two new species and one new record of the genus Melolontha Fabricius, 1775 from China (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae), Zootaxa 5618 (2), pp. 206-220 : 216-218

Checklist of the genus Melolontha from the Chinese mainland

Melolontha aeneicollis species group:

Melolontha costipennis Fairmaire, 1889 : Chinese mainland: Sichuan ( Fairmaire 1889), Qinghai ( Brenske 1903).

Remarks. The type locality of M. costipennis is “Mou-Pin, Tibet ”. Now, Mou-Pin is located in Baoxing county, northwestern Ya’an City, Sichuan Province. Melolontha tricostata Brenske, 1903 from Kuku-nor (Tibet) is a junior synonym of M. costipennis according to Petrovitz (1969). Nowadays, Kuku-nor is the Qinghai Lake of Qinghai province.

Melolontha cuprescens Blanchard, 1871 : Chinese mainland: Sichuan ( Blanchard 1871); India ( Gupta et al. 2023).

Melolontha jianbini Wang, 2024 : Chinese mainland: Fujian ( Wang 2024)

Melolontha sculpticollis Fairmaire, 1891 : Chinese mainland: Hubei ( Fairmaire 1891).

Melolontha tianlongi Wang, 2024 : Chinese mainland: Jiangxi ( Wang 2024)

Melolontha xui Wang, 2024 : Chinese mainland: Guangdong ( Wang 2024)

Melolontha carinata species group:

Melolontha carinata (Brenske, 1896) : Chinese mainland: Yunnan (Keith et al. 2012); India ( Brenske 1896b); “Bengal” ( Dalla Torre 1912).

Melolontha indica Hope, 1831 : Chinese mainland: Yunnan ( Bezděk 2016); India ( Hope 1831); Myanmar (Arrow 1946); Pakistan ( Keith & Saltin 2012).

Melolontha malaccensis ( Moser, 1913) : Chinese mainland: Yunnan (Keith et al. 2012); Malaysia ( Moser 1913), Thailand ( Itoh 1995), Myanmar ( Itoh 1995).

Melolontha nepalensis ( Blanchard, 1851) : Chinese mainland: Xizang ( Zhang 1987, 1988); India ( Gupta et al. 2023); Nepal ( Blanchard 1851).

Melolontha chinensis species group:

Melolontha chinensis Guérin-Méneville, 1838 : Chinese mainland: Guangdong ( Bezděk 2016); Hunan ( Xu et al. 2012), Jiangxi ( Bezděk 2016), Sichuan ( Moser 1913); India ( Gupta et al. 2023); Vietnam ( Dalla Torre 1912).

Melolontha frater gobiensis Nomura, 1952 : Chinese mainland: Henan ( Nomura 1952), Nei Monggol ( Nomura 1952).

Remarks. Ren et al. (2019) recorded the nominate subspecies M. frater frater Arrow, 1913 (type locality: Japan) from Ningxia which is close to the type locality of M. frater gobiensis . Whether the species recorded by Ren et al. (2019) from northern China is really M. frater frater is not yet clear and requires further study.

Melolontha guttigera species group:

Melolontha maculata ( Zhang, 1983) : Chinese mainland: Yunnan ( Zhang 1983); Thailand ( Itoh 1995).

Melolontha incana species group:

Melolontha incana (Motschulsky, 1854) : Chinese mainland: Beijing ( Bezdĕk 2016; Liu et al. 1997), Guizhou ( Liu et al. 1997; Yang 1989), Hebei ( Bezdĕk 2016; Liu et al. 1997), Heilongjiang ( Bezdĕk 2016; Liu et al. 1997), Henan ( Liu et al. 1997), Hubei ( Liu et al. 1997), Hunan ( Bezdĕk 2016; Liu et al. 1997), Jiangxi ( Liu et al. 1997), Jilin ( Bezdĕk 2016; Liu et al. 1997), Liaoning ( Bezdĕk 2016; Liu et al. 1997), Neimenggu ( Liu et al. 1997), Ningxia ( Ren et al. 2019), Shandong ( Liu et al. 1997), Shanxi ( Liu et al. 1997), Shannxi ( Liu et al. 1997), Sichuan ( Liu et al. 1997), Zhejiang ( Liu et al. 1997; Zhang 1988); Russia ( Medvedev 1951); South Korea ( Kim 2011).

Melolontha flabelata Sharp, 1876 : Chinese mainland: Xizang ( Zhang 1987, 1988); India ( Gupta et al. 2023); Bangladesh ( Sharp 1876).

Melolontha furcicauda Ancey, 1881 : Afghanistan ( Bezdĕk 2016); Chinese mainland: Xinjiang ( Bezdĕk 2016), Xizang ( Zhang 1987, 1988); India ( Gupta et al. 2023); Nepal (Brenske 1896); Pakistan ( Keith & Saltin 2012); Tajikistan ( Bezdĕk 2016).

M. shanghaiana (Brenske, 1896) : Chinese mainland: Shanghai (Brenske 1896).

M. pseudofurcicauda Keith, 2008 : Chinese mainland: Xizang ( Keith 2008)

Melolontha japonica species group:

Melolontha japonica Burmeister, 1855 : Chinese mainland: Heilongjiang ( Bezborodov 2018), Jilin ( Bezborodov 2018), Liaoning ( Bezborodov 2018); Japan (Burmeister 1855, Li et al. 2010; Niijima & Kinoshita 1923).

Remarks. Melolontha japonica was originally described from Japan and also recorded from northeastern China in the checklist of Bezborodov (2018). These specimens and records from Chinese mainland were not checked and verified in this study. Depending on the distribution of the other members of this group (similar appearance and genitalia), all of them were collected on the islands of eastern Asia ( Li et al. 2010): Japan or Taiwan. Significantly, Melolontha frater (see remark on M. frater gobiensis ) was recorded from Japan and Chinese mainland.Additionally, M. insulana ( Moser, 1918) was recorded from Taiwan before ( Li et al. 2010), but one male from Zhejiang (new distribution record: 1 male, China, Zhangjiang, Qingan county, VII.2024, Su-Tong Zhang leg.) was examined by us. Whether the distribution from northeastern China published by Bezborodov (2018) is based on true Melolontha japonica is not yet clear and requires additional study.

Melolontha phupanensis species group:

Melolontha phupanensis Keith, 2008 : Chinese mainland: Yunnan (new country record); Laos ( Keith 2008); Vietnam ( Keith 2008).

Melolontha daliensis Wang & Qiu , sp. nov.: Chinese mainland: Yunnan.

Melolontha reichenbachi species group:

Melolontha reichenbachi Keith, 2008 : Chinese mainland: Xizang ( Keith 2008), Sichuan (new Chinese provincial record).

Melolontha wangyutangi Wang & Qiu , sp. nov.: Chinese mainland: Shannxi.

Melolontha rufocrassa species group:

Melolontha rufocrassa Fairmaire, 1889 : Chinese mainland: Sichuan ( Fairmaire 1889).

Melolontha virescens species group:

Melolontha virescens (Brenske, 1896) : Bhutan (Frey 1975); Chinese mainland: Xizang ( Zhang 1987, 1988); India ( Brenske 1896a); Nepal ( Sabatinelli & Migliaccio 1982); Pakistan ( Keith & Saltin 2012).

Species not assigned to any species group:

Melolontha albopruinosa Fairmaire, 1878 : Chinese mainland: central region ( Fairmaire 1878).

Melolontha davidis Fairmaire, 1878 : Chinese mainland: central region ( Fairmaire 1878).

Melolontha hippocastani mongolica Ménétriès, 1854 : Chinese mainland: Heilongjiang ( Bezborodov 2018), Jilin ( Bezborodov 2018), Liaoning ( Bezborodov 2018), Nei Monggol ( Bezborodov 2018); Mongolia ( Medvedev 1951; Nikolajev & Puntsagdulam 1984).

Remarks. Liu et al. (1997) recorded M. hippocastani mongolica from most of the northern provinces of China and also illustrated the male genitalia (compare with Kryzhanovsky 1978: figs 21–23) which completely differ from the nominate subspecies M. hippocastani hippocastani Fabricius, 1801 . Ren et al. (2019) also done the same work but only illustrated the dorsal habitus. All records by Liu et al. (1997) and Ren et al. (2019) within northern China need to be verified.

Melolontha mandarina Fairmaire, 1878 : Chinese mainland: central region ( Fairmaire 1878).

Melolontha tarimensis Semenov, 1896 : Chinese mainland: Xinjiang ( Semenov 1896).

Melolontha tenuicauda Fairmaire, 1896 : Chinese mainland: Sichuan (Fairmaire 1896).

Remarks. Melolontha tenuicauda was described from “Se-Pin” (Tianquan county, Sichuan).