Melobasis edungalbensis Levey 2023, sp. n.
Creators: name: Levey, Brian
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Buprestidae
Melobasis
Melobasis edungalbensis

description: M. edungalbensis sp. n.
(Figs 119, 132, 151, 152, 174, 175)
Type locality: Queensland, Edungalba.
Type specimens examined. Holotype ♁ (ANIC) Edungalba C Q 28-12-1969 / E.E. Adams / ex. K. Carnaby coll. / HOLOTYPE Melobasis edungalbensis sp. n. B. Levey 2012. Paratypes as follows: 1♁ [badly damaged], 2♀ (BLC) C. Queensland: Edungalba, Feb. 1946. on Bohenia [(sic) Bauhinia] E.E. Adams. 1♀ (BLC) C. Queensland: ½ m. N.W. Mourangee. 13.11.73. on Brigalow leaves. E.E. Adams. 1♀ (WAMA) Queensland: Edungalba. E.E. Adams. / du Boulay coll./72-602. 1♁ BLC) AUSTRALIA: Qld. Edungalba XII 1972 Smith coll./ Ex. Coll. C. L. Bellamy.
Other specimens examined. 1♀ (QMA) MEQ 23 º36′S 149º14′E Mt Bluffkin, 7km N.N.E. on road, brigalow, pitfall. 22 Mar.–2 Jun. 2000. 160m. Monteith & Cook. 9411.[This specimen is somewhat atypical in colour].
Diagnosis. General diagnosis: length 7.3–8.8 mm; ♁ head dull green or golden green in lower three-quarters, upper quarter dull reddish violet; ♀ dull golden copper with more or less extensive reddish violet reflections or reddish violet; pronotum predominantly dull reddish purple or dull reddish violet, sometimes dull green in central quarter and antero-lateral quarter; scutellum dull green or coppery; elytra predominantly dull purple brown to dull reddish purple, sometimes with a poorly defined narrow scutellary vitta in basal sixth dull green; basal margin narrowly, humeral callosity, lateral margin and epipleura from base to level of hind coxae sometimes dull green; underside reddish purple to reddish violet, centre of prostrnum and prosternal process sometimes with a green reflection; laterally sparsely clothed with short inconspicuous silvery pubescence, central part of the prosternum, prosternal process, mesosternum, central parts of metaventrite and abdominal ventrites glabrous.
Head (Fig. 132): very densely (♀) to contiguously punctate (♁) with small strong, mostly round punctures; ♁ moderately densely clothed with long silvery pubescence; ♀ glabrous or moderately densely clothed with long silvery pubescence; spaces between the punctures very weakly microreticulate; clypeal excision shallow to moderately deep arcuate, with a narrow to very narrow reticulate impunctate border; clypeal peaks right angled; clypeal angles absent; vertex flat, about or slightly less than half width of head across eyes when viewed from above; eyes strongly convex.
Antenna: slightly sexually dimorphic; ♁ segments 3–10 expanded, segment 3 subtriangularly expanded, segments 4–10 with expansion quadrate, petiolate at base; ♀ segment 3 slightly expanded, segments 4–10 expanded, segment 4 subtriangularly expanded, segments 5–10 with expansion quadrate, slightly petiolate at base.
Pronotum: 1.46–1.58× as wide at base as long in midline; anterior margin weakly bisinuate with a weakly developed median lobe, with a well developed entire beaded margin; posterior margin moderately strongly biarcuate; widest at or just behind midlength; lateral margins weakly, slightly curvilinearly or almost rectilinearly diverging from basal angles to widest point, before weakly curvilinearly or almost rectilinearly converging to apical angles; basal angles slightly obtuse; as wide at base as elytra at base; lateral carina sharp very well defined, almost straight, about two-thirds to three-quarters complete; punctation in central half very dense to contiguous, consisting of transversely elliptical punctures forming transverse slightly sinuate series; punctation in lateral half dense to very dense, the punctures transversely oval next to the central half, becoming round towards the lateral margin; spaces between punctures weakly microreticulate; glabrous.
Scutellum: slightly elongate to quadrate, shield shaped, about one twenty-fifth to one thirtieth width of elytra at base; strongly microreticulate.
Elytra: 2.29–2.42× as long as wide at base; basal margin moderately strongly biangulate, very slightly widening from base over the humeral callosities thence slightly widening to midlength, before narrowing to the rather broadly rounded apices; lateral margins in apical half, and apices serrate, with acute serrations, the serrations smaller at the elytral apices; sutural margins very slightly raised in apical half; punctation of internal half of elytra very sparse to sparse, consisting of pin-prick and very small slightly lunate punctures; punctation of external half dense to very dense, consisting of larger transversely ovate punctures, forming transverse series near the lateral margin; without costae; moderately strongly microreticulate between the punctures.
Hypomeron: contiguously punctate with medium sized, very shallow, ovate and elliptical punctures, the bottom of the punctures strongly microreticulate, with inconspicuous, moderately long, silvery pubescence.
Prosternum: with a narrow bead at the anterior margin; the anterior margin at the same level as the area behind; prosternal process strongly widening distally, almost as wide as long at its widest point, sparsely to moderately densely punctate, with small round punctures, glabrous.
Mesanepisternum: strongly microreticulate, with none to many very shallow lunate setae bearing punctures.
Central part of metaventrite, inner part of metacoxa glabrous, sparsely punctate with small weak mostly pin-prick punctures; lateral parts punctate with mostly coalescent large lunate punctures; abdominal ventrites densely, weakly punctate, with small mostly lunate punctures in central-third, laterally with larger coalescent lunate punctures.
Apical ventrite (Figs 151, 152): lunate punctures coalescing to form grooves parallel to the lateral margin; excision in ♁ broad, slightly W shaped, with a narrow flange produced at the centre as a wide lightly triangular lobe, with well developed, long, slightly divergent lateral spines (Fig. 151); ♀ moderately broad, deep U-shaped, the very narrow flange very slightly produced at the centre as a small slightly triangular lobe, the lateral spines well developed, slightly divergent (Fig. 152).
Fore tibia: ♁ strongly curved, with a setal brush at the apex on the anterior face; ♀ tibia less curved, setal brush less developed.
Mid tibia: ♁ strongly curved with a small tooth at the apex; ♀ almost straight, without a tooth at apex.
Aedeagus (Figs 174, 175): parameres very slightly asymmetrical; apical setae bearing part with spine-like setae, as well as the usual long fine setae; median lobe slightly asymmetrical at tip [the holotype as the extreme tip missing: this happens quite often when the aedeagus protrudes after capture].
Ovipositor: not examined.
Comments. This species is most similar to M. macqueeni sp. n. in overall appearance but lacks the broad blue or blue-green lateral vittae of the elytra seen in a M. macqueeni sp. n., and the parameres of the aedeagus have spine like setae, which are absent in M. macqueeni sp. n.
Etymology. This species is named after the type locality.
Bionomics. Adults have been collected in November, December and February, on Bauhinia sp. (Fabaceae) and brigalow (Acacia harpophylla) (Fabaceae). Larval host unknown.
description: Published as part of Levey, Brian, 2023, A revision of the Australian species of the genus Melobasis Laporte & Gory 1837 (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), Part 3 (Revision of the azureipennis, cupricollis, iridicolor and melanura species groups), pp. 1-100 in Zootaxa 5302 (1) on pages 73-76, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5302.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/8043117