Notopilo elstoni Bartlett & Lambkin 2022, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Bartlett, Justin S.
name: Lambkin, Christine L.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Cleridae
Notopilo
Notopilo elstoni

description: Notopilo elstoni sp. nov.
ZooBank registration: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 486B7112-8072-4C35-9B50-123DADEFF11A
(Figs 58, 94, 130, 173; Map 4)
HOLOTYPE ♁: South Australia: New Kalamurina St. Warburton R. S. Aust 10 mar. 1972. E. Matthews (SAMA). PARATYPES (4): South Australia: L. Callabonna A. Zietz // A. H. Elston Collection // K 304526 // 741 Opilo congruus Newm. var (1, AM); 27.33S 135.27E Oodnadatta S.Aust. 29 Nov 89 I.Bunic (1, ANIC); Australia, SA. Near Oodla Wirra 427m, 32°51′S 139°06′E, 15.xi.2000 // leg. A. Podlussany, I. Rozner, George Hangay. G &K Hangay Collection (1, ANIC); Australia, SA, Wobna Mound Springs, 3.- 4.1.2004, M. Baehr (1, RGCM).
Other material examined. 27.21S 136.36E, attracted to light, Mierantana W.H., S.Aust. 23 Oct 89, I. Bunic (1 ♀, ANIC).
Diagnosis. Pronotum rounded, disc moderately punctated though retaining a smooth reflective appearance, central impression extremely short and shallow, tumescent areas either side of central impression indistinct; elytra dark with orange maculae (each elytron with a humeral macula extending obliquely towards the suture but ending at the second stria, a large central fasciate macula which is curved at the suture and which is thinly joined to the humeral macula along the lateral margin, plus an apical macula which meets the external margins entirely and the sutural margin at the apex only), punctation with small nodules, 8 th stria beginning near base (between 2 nd and 4 th punctation of 7 th stria), some or all of striae 3–6 reaching apical macula, mostly a single seta across interstrial width (rarely two); femora yellow and brown, tarsi with three ventral tarsal pads.
Description. Habitus: Fig. 173. Total length: 6.9–9.5 mm (holotype, 9.1 mm). Head: Vertex black, frons entirely black or reddish-brown from middle of eyes to clypeus, clypeus and supra-antennal elevations reddish-brown, anteclypeus semi-transparent orange, labrum, antennae and palpi orange to orange-brown; eyes separated by about 0.73–0.85 eye widths (holotype, 0.85); vertex with numerous shallow punctations (heavier behind eyes), upper part of frons more punctate- rugulose, lower part of frons (above epistomal suture) with light transverse to weaklycurved rugulosity and occasional punctation; clypeus with numerous punctations; genae and submentum wrinkled; exterior margins of terminal palpomeres about 1.5 times (maxillae) and 2 times (labium) the length of inside edges (based on paratypes as the palpi of the holotype are damaged); antennae not reaching base of pronotum; eyes and cranium with long erect pale setae, frons and vertex with denser shorter medially-directed setae. Prothorax: Black to reddish-black, prosternum and basal collar orange-brown; pronotum 1.14–1.22 times longer than wide (holotype, 1.15), sides rounded, middle wider than pronotal arch; subapical depression deeply v-shaped, indistinct near middle; central impression indistinct, extremely shallow, short; disc convex, well-distributed with circular punctation (though retaining a smooth, reflective appearance), punctation heaviest laterally, subrugulose, punctation least dense medially, a glabrous stripe basally, a weak ovoid partly glabrous tumescence either side of central impression; lateral impression conspicuous, obscurly-shaped; with fine short multi-directional setae and sparsely with longer erect setae. Pterothorax: Ventrites orange, with fine pale posteriorly- or medially-directed setae; elytra dark brown with orange markings (each elytron with a humeral maculation extending obliquely towards the suture but ending at the second stria, a large central fasciate maculation which is curved at the suture and which is thinly joined to the humeral maculation along the lateral margin, plus an apical maculation which meets the external margins entirely and the sutural margin at the apex only), length to width ratio 2.5–2.6:1 (holotype, 2.5:1); 8 th stria beginning anterior of fascia, between 2 nd and 4 th punctation of 7 th stria, some or all of striae 3–6 reaching apical macula (at least 4 and 5); punctation circular, with small nodules (most easily viewed in dark area posterior of humeral maculae); epipleurae extending into apical maculae; interstriae with short fine setae (at least one per puncture), plus longer thicker erect setae (at least one every two punctures), striae mostly with a single seta across interstrial width (rarely two), intrafoveal setae short; hindwing with CuA 3+4 cross-vein complete (CuA 1 cross-vein not observed), MP 3+4 absent basad of CuA 1 cross-vein. Legs: Basal two-thirds of profemora and basal three-quarters of meso- and metafemora yellow, remaining parts of femora dark brown; tibiae and tarsi brown, tibial carinae darker; ventral tarsal pads yellowish; profemora slightly more swollen than other femora. Abdomen: Ventrites orange. Male genitalia: Tegmen (Fig. 58) broad, middle very weakly sinuate, apices of parameroid lobes digitiform, dorsal sinus wide, about onethird tegmen length, ventral sinus about half as long as dorsal sinus, apodeme just under one-quarter tegmen length; median lobe as in Fig. 94; pygidium as in Fig. 130.
Variation. The apical elytral maculae of the paratype from Wobna Mound Springs do not extend to the extreme apex. A female specimen from Mierantana Water Hole, South Australia, conforms to the above description in most respects but differs only in being larger (11.1 mm long) and in having differently patterned elytra (the humeral macula spans the entire base and is connected to the central, fasciate, macula along the suture). In the absence of a male (for comparison of genitalia) we can only consider this to represent within-species variation. We are not designating it as a paratype of N. elstoni sp. nov. in case future discovery of a male with similar elytral markings proves otherwise.
Etymology. We name this species after Albert Harold Elston (1890–1957), clerk and amateur entomologist from Adelaide, South Australia, within whose collection the Lake Callabonna paratype was originally contained. In ten papers published from 1919 to 1930, Elston proposed exactly 100 species group names for Australian beetles, mainly in the families Elateridae (51 names) and Cleridae (42 names). In terms of number of Australian clerids described, Elston was second only to Frenchman, Maurice Pic, who described 46 species, though in contrast to Pic, whose descriptions were often four or five lines in length, Elston’s descriptions were substantial and informative.
Biology. Adult specimens have been collected in November, January and March.
Distribution (Map 4). Notopilo elstoni sp. nov. is known from the northern, arid region of South Australia.
description: Published as part of Bartlett, Justin S. & Lambkin, Christine L., 2022, Australian Opilonini (Coleoptera: Cleridae: Clerinae) part I: A revised taxonomy for Australian Opilo Latreille including descriptions of new genera and species, pp. 1-81 in Zootaxa 5220 (1) on pages 61-63, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5220.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/7441294