Aulacophora relicta Reid & Halling & Beatson 2021, stat. rev.
Creators: name: Reid, Chris
name: Halling, Luke
name: Beatson, Max
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Aphididae
Aulacophora
Aulacophora relicta

description: Aulacophora relicta (Boisduval, 1835), stat. rev.
(Figs 7, 15, 23, 30, 41, 54, 77–82, 104–105, 117–118, 131–132, 146, 160, 179, 186)
Galleruca relicta Boisduval, 1835: 557.
Aulacophora relicta: Baly 1889: 300.
Ceratia relicta: Weise 1924: 16.
Aulacophora palmerstoni Blackburn, 1888: 1497; syn. nov.
Rhaphidopalpa imberbis Weise, 1916: 37; syn. nov.
A. abdominalis sensu Lea 1924, nec Fabricius, 1781.
Material examined (310): Types: Aulacophora relicta Boisduval: Neotype (this designation): ♁/ Hidden Valley, NQ, 19:00S 146:04E, dry scler. woodland, xi.1995, C Reid/ Aulacophora relicta (Boisduval, 1835) Neotype, des. Reid et al. 2020 (AMS); Aulacophora palmerstoni Blackburn: Lectotype (this designation): 1♁/ N Territory/ Aulacophora palmerstoni Blackb cotype [Blackburns writing]/ Aulacophora palmerstoni Bl. do [ditto] N.T:N.W.A. 17986 cotype [Lea handwriting]/ Aulacophora palmerstoni Blackburn, 1888 Lectotype, des. Reid et al. (SAM); paralectotype: 1♁/ N Territory/ Aulacophora palmerstoni Blackb cotype [B’s writing]/ Aulacophora palmerstoni Blackb N Territory cotype I.4062 [Lea’s handwriting]/ (SAM).
Non-types: Australian Capital Territory: ANU Campus (ANIC); New South Wales: Alstonville (OAI); 1♀ *, Ashford, damaging cucurbits (AMS); Boggabilla (OAI); Broken Hill (1944) (OAI); Burbie Canyon, Warrumbungle NP (NAQS); Clovelly (OAI); Coonamble (OAI); Graman (OAI); vicinity Jenolan Caves (ANIC); Lightning Ridge (OAI); Lismore (OAI); Moree (ANIC, OAI); Murwillumbah (ANIC, OAI); ♁, Musselbrook [sic] (ANIC); 24k ESE Musselbrook [sic] (ANIC); Narrabri (OAI); Sunny Corner State Forest (ANIC); Ulmarra (OAI); Warialda (OAI);
Northern Territory: Adelaide R (AMS); 2, Alice Springs, on hami melon (AMS, DPID); 5, Batchelor (AMS, ANIC, DPID); 1, Berrimah (DPID); 10, Berrimah Farm (DPID); 3, Berry Springs (DPID); 11k SSW Borroloola (ANIC); 22k WSW Borroloola (ANIC); 48k SSW Borroloola (ANIC); Burnside (ANIC); 1k S Cahills Crossing (ANIC); 8k ESE Cape Crawford (ANIC); 1, Coconut Grove (DPID); Daly River Mission (ANIC); 6, Darwin (ANIC, DPID); 8, Douglas Daly Res Sta (DPID); 3, Elizabeth Farm (DPID); Fergusson River (ANIC); 3, Humpty Do (DPID); 6mi W Humpty Doo (ANIC); 14mi W Humpty Doo (ANIC); 4, Katherine (ANIC, DPID); 2, Katherine Res Sta (DPID); 1♁, Katherine Gorge (ANIC); Larrimah Pond (SAM); 1♁, Litchfield NP (ANIC); 1♁, Manton Dam (ANIC); Marrakai Station (ANIC, NAQS); 1♁, McArthur River (ANIC); 3, Middlepoint (DPID); Mindil Beach (ANIC); 6k E Mount Cahill (ANIC); 19k ENE Mount Cahill (ANIC); 1, Munmarlarly Sta, Kakadu (DPID); 1, Nathan River HS (DPID); 6, Noonamah, Cucumis sativa (DPID); Point Charles (OAI); 1♁, Roper R (SAM); 1, Sixty Mile (DPID); Thorak Reserve, Darwin (MAGNT); 1, Thorak (DPID); Tindal (ANIC); 7, Wildman R (ANIC, DPID); Queensland: Archer Creek (ANIC); Aurukun (NAQS); Ayr (ANIC, QDAF); 14mi S Ayr (ANIC); 35mi SE Ayr (ANIC); Bamaga (NAQS); Bernborough Downs (ANIC); Biggenden (ANIC); Bilwon, water melon (QDAF); 1♁*, Blackdown Tableland NP (AMS); Bluff Mount (ANIC); Bluff Range (ANIC); Boolboonda Range (ANIC); Bowen (AMS); Brigalow (QDAF); 1♁, Brisbane (ANIC); Brisbane, cucurbits (QDAF); 1♁, Bucasia (ANIC); 19k S Bundaberg (ANIC); Bundaberg (ANIC); Burketown (NAQS); Cairns (AMS, ANIC, SAM); Camooweal (ANIC); Cape Tribulation (ANIC); 1♁*, Carnarvon NP (AMS); Charleville (NAQS); nr Charters Towers (OAI); 21.9k E Chillagoe (AMS); 1♁*, Clermont (AMS); Cooktown (ANIC); Coongera Rock, nr Coalstoun Lakes (ANIC); 1♁, Crater Lakes, Coulstoun National Park (ANIC); 1♀ * Crediton SF (AMS); Crows Nest (ANIC); Davies Ck (AMS); Doomagee (NAQS); Edward R (ANIC); Eidsvold (ANIC); Emerald, melon, zucchini (QDAF); Emu Park (ANIC); Expedition Range (ANIC); Gayndah, rockmelon, pumpkin (QDAF); Gilruth Plains (ANIC); 70k SW Greenvale (SAM); Harvey Range, 19:21S 146:28E (AMS); Helenvale nr Cooktown (AMS); 7mi SW Herberton (ANIC); Highbury (NAQS); Horseshoe Lookout, Blackdown Tableland (ANIC); Hughenden (ANIC); Hume Rd, nr Mareeba (NAQS); Ingham (ANIC); Kalunga (QDAF); Kirrama, 18:11S 145:44E (AMS); Kowanyama (NAQS); Lake Idamea, Glen Ormiston (SAM); Lochhart R (NAQS); 31k WSW Longreach (ANIC); Maalan (ANIC); Marion Downs (SAM); 3.5mi S Marmor (ANIC); 1♁, Maryborough (SAM); Maryborough Ck (SAM); Meteor Downs (ANIC); 1♁, Millstream NP (ANIC); 35k NNW Mount Carbine (ANIC); 2mi SW Mount Inkerman (ANIC); 1♁, 66k NW Mount Isa (ANIC); Mount Mulligan (AMS, NAQS); Mount Walsh (ANIC); Mullet Creek (ANIC); Murrays Spring (ANIC); Napranum (NAQS); Normanton (SAM); North Rockhampton (ANIC); 1♁, 15k W Paluma (ANIC); Peera- mon (ANIC); Port Denison (AMS); Ravenshoe (ANIC); Rita Island (ANIC); Rockhampton (AMS); Silver Plains Homestead (AMS, ANIC); Stanthorpe, pumpkin (QDAF); Walkamin (NAQS); Weipa (NAQS); Westcliff track, Bunya Mountains (ANIC); 1♁, White Mtns NP (ANIC); Windsor Tableland (AMS); Yandina, eating noogoora burr kernel, zucchini (QDAF); Yeppoon (ANIC); Queensland, Torres Straits: 1♁/ Dalrymple Island (ANIC); 1/ Moa Island, on cucumber, 6.iii.1992, JF Grimshaw (NAQS); South Australia: no locality (AMS); Alton Downs Homestead (ANIC); 10k N Cape Jervis (OAI); Kangaroo Island (ANIC); Murray Bridge [Lea] (ANIC); Tasmania: Kempton [Lea] (ANIC); Launceston [Lea] (ANIC); Victoria: Benalla [Helms] (ANIC); Western Australia: Bridgetown (ANIC); 200k SW Broome (NAQS); Fitzroy & Margaret Rivers (SAM); Karrakatta Bay (NAQS); 1♁, King Edward R (ANIC); Koolama Bay (NAQS); 2♁*, 1♀ *, Kununurra (NAQS); Lake Argyle Road, Kimberley (ANIC); Roebuck Bay (SAM); Wyndham (AMS).
Description. Colour (Fig. 7). Head brownish-yellow, except apical half to two-thirds of labrum and apices of mandibles brown to dark brown, eyes black; antennae with antennomeres 1–2 yellowish-brown and 8–11 entirely slightly darker to almost black, 3–7 variably coloured but generally with darkened anterodorsal face contrasting with paler posteroventral face, sometimes 1–7 entirely yellowish-brown, if so 8–11 only slightly darker; pronotum and elytra entirely brownish-yellow; venter of prothorax entirely brownish-yellow; scutellum brownish-yellow; mesanepisternum, mesepimeron and mesoventrite brownish-yellow; metaventrite dark brown to black, with yellowish anterior margins; procoxae brownish-yellow, mesocoxae and metacoxae yellowish-brown; legs sometimes entirely brownish-yellow, but usually meso- and metatibiae and tarsi brown, rarely protibial outer edge and tarsi brown; tergites yellowish-brown except pygidium brownish-yellow; abdominal ventrites 1–4 dark brown to black, but middle of apex of ventrite 4, rarely 2–3, yellowish; ventrite 5 dark brown to black at sides of base, remainder brownish-yellow.
Male: length 6–7.5 mm; frontoclypeus without arcuate ridges or densely setose patches; first antennomere expanded, oval flat area in apical half defined by sharp ridge; antennae about 0.65x body length; antennomere 2 shortest, less than one third length of 1, antennomere 1 longest, comparative lengths: 1>11> 9 = 10> 5 = 6 = 7> 3 = 8> 4> 2; length antennomere 5 about 2.3x width; antennomeres 3–7 slightly expanded to apices; antennomeres 3–11 each with only 1–4 erect lateral setae; pronotal transverse depression posteriorly shallowly arcuate, deepest and broadest at middle; in lateral view anterior half of pronotum slightly more convex than posterior half and median depression with anterior slope steeper than posterior slope; disc with pair of large pits anterior to transverse groove; elytra shining, shallowly microreticulate; elytral humeri without setae; apical lobe of ventrite V asymmetrically sculptured, cavity more abruptly ridged on left and gradually elevated on right, without sharp ridges; elongate cavity deepened from base almost to apex and deepest at left side before apex, then gradually elevated to apical margin; tergite VIII entirely pale brown, apical margin produced as a pair of narrowly triangular and slightly upcurved prongs with deep concavity between, left hand prong shorter and straighter than right, minute lateral lobes present; penis thin and sinuate in lateral view, with small sharply angulate tubercle at tip; sides penis without punctures, smooth and unridged; broad and asymmetric in dorsal view, right side strongly bisinuate, sides almost evenly attenuated from middle to acute apex; membranous area about half penis length.
Female as male, except: length 5.5–7.5 mm; abdominal ventrites 1–4 often mostly yellowish-brown, especially at middle; antennomeres slightly thinner than male, length antennomere 5 about 2.7x width, length antennomere 8 about 2.7x width; transverse pronotal depression shallower; pygidium apical half slightly raised and extended; apex pygidium variable, from broadly obtuse-angled with minute apicodorsal tubercle to narrowly acutely produced with large elongate apicodorsal tubercle; pygidial apex in lateral view elevated but thin, with strongly sinuate sides and with apical tubercle; venter of pygidial apex flat or shallowly concave; apex ventrite V shallowly concave, usually with preapical lateral depressions and/or margin strongly reflexed; vaginal palpi elongate ovate, length 3.5–4x width, with 7–9 pairs of setae in apical half; basal apodemes straight to slightly sinuate, 0.43–0.48 mm long; sternite VIII with tignum separated from weakly sclerotised posterior margin of the sternite by a transparent membranous area, and posterior margin truncate to slightly concave, not produced; tignum 1.3–1.4 mm long, apex membranous, broadly rounded, not separated from shaft by a band of deeper pigmentation; spermathecal shape falcate, collum abruptly demarkated from receptaculum, reflexed relative to receptaculum, insertion point of gland (ramus) flat to produced; receptaculum strongly hook-shaped with angulate interior bend and large beak-like appendix.
Diagnosis. Male: pronotal disc with pair of glands (Fig. 7), humeral setal patch absent (Fig. 23), scutellum pale (Fig. 2), tergite 8 deeply arcuate (Fig. 91), penis laterally sinuate with acutely attenuated apex (Figs 104–105). Female: frontoclypeus medially keeled, scutellum pale, abdominal tergites brownish-yellow, apex of abdominal venter pale (Figs 54), pygidium produced in an approximate right-angle or rarely rounded, venter of pygidial apex not deeply notched (Fig. 54), ventrite 5 with brownish-yellow base and apical margin variably concave but width of concavity at least 1.8x depth (Figs 54, 77–82).
Notes. Galleruca relicta Boisduval 1835 was described from New Holland. It has a reasonable description (at least for Boisduval, who seems to have been a particularly casual taxonomist) and this, in combination with its position in his list of taxa (which is significant), and its type locality, suggests that A. relicta represents the common and widespread pale species of Australian Aulacophora. Aulacophora relicta was merely listed by Baly, who noted that the type was unknown to him (Baly 1889: 300), and it was later placed in synonymy with A. abdominalis by Lea (1924), followed by Wilcox (1972) and Kimoto (1990). Our research shows that the common PPB from Australia is a different species from the common PPB in the Pacific. As Aulacophora relicta is the oldest name for the PPB in Australia we resurrect this name and designate a neotype to fix its identity.
Aulacophora palmerstoni was described from Darwin (Blackburn 1889) and later placed in synonymy with A. abdominalis (Blackburn 1898). We have examined type material and can confirm that this is A. relicta.
Raphidiopalpa imberbis was described and illustrated from the Kimberley region (Weise 1916) and later synonymised with A. palmerstoni (Weise 1924) and then A. abdominalis (Wilcox 1972). We have not seen type material but it is clear from the detailed description that A. imberbis is also a synonym of A. relicta.
Distribution (Fig. 186) and biology. Aulacophora relicta is a widespread and common species of northern Australia and eastern New South Wales with old records for South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania. The latter may represent occasional incursions from the north which do not form sustainable populations, or may simply reflect lack of recent collecting in these areas. The distribution of A. relicta in northern Australia encloses both A. barrogae and A. mbabaram and overlaps slightly with A. abdominalis in the Torres Straits, occurring as far northeast as Darnley Island, 200 km northwest of mainland Australia. Given that Biosecurity measures have not restricted movement of cucurbit plants north from the mainland, it is quite possible that some Torres Straits specimens found are due to recent manmade movements, with long term establishment unknown. Aulacophora relicta has been collected in every month of the year.
Aulacophora relicta has been recorded damaging pumpkins (Cucurbita maxima) and “all commercial cucurbit crops” in Australia, under the name A. abdominalis (Waterhouse & Norris 1987; Napier 2009; Brown 2015). Few of the specimens we examined had any host data, with only two records for Citrullus sativa, one for C. lanatus, three for Cucumis melo, and two for Cucurbita pepo, all of which are exotic. One adult is labelled as feeding on the seed of an exotic weed in the Asteraceae (Xanthium species). However native Cucurbitaceae species occur throughout the range of A. relicta and these are probably the native hosts.
description: Published as part of Reid, Chris, Halling, Luke & Beatson, Max, 2021, Revision of the Australopapuan and West Pacific species of plain pumpkinbeetles, the Aulacophora indica species-complex (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae), pp. 1-73 in Zootaxa 4932 (1) on pages 36-38, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4932.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/4545448