Melobasis brittoni Levey 2012, sp. n.
Creators: name: Levey, Brian
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2012
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Coleoptera
Buprestidae
Melobasis
Melobasis brittoni

description: <i>M. brittoni</i> sp. n. (Figs. 106, 169, 203) <b>Type locality:</b> Western Australia, Wurarga, Marloo sheep station (28°24'S 116°29'E). <b>Type specimens examined.</b> Holotype &amp;male; (ANIC) Marloo Stn., Wurarga, W.A. 1931–1941 A. Goerling./ HOLOTYPE <i>Melobasis brittoni</i> sp. n. &amp;male; B. Levey 2010. Paratypes as follows. <b>Western Australia:</b> 11 &amp;male;, 6 &amp;female; (ANIC, NMWC) same data as Holotype; 2 &amp;male; (ANIC) Wurarga W.A. Goerling; 2 &amp;male;, 1&amp;female; (BMNH) Wurarga W.A., A. Goerling, 10.36, 1939-140; 3 &amp;male;, 1&amp;female; (ZMHB) W. Australien, Marloo Station, Wurarga, 1938, A. Goerling S.G.; 2 &amp;male; (SAMA) Ankertell W.A., H.W. Brown/ Co-Type HJC/ J. 15349, <i>Melobasis septemplagiata</i> Cart., W. Australia, Co type/ <i>M. septemplagiata</i> Cart. id by H.J. Carter; 1&amp;female; (WAMA) Cue W.A., H.W. Brown/ <i>M. septemplagiata</i> Cart. / du Boulay coll./ 72-507; 1 &amp;male; (WAMA) Cue W.A., H.W. Brown/ <i>M. septemplagiata</i> / du Boulay coll./ 72-506/ Comp. with &amp;male; from S. Aust. Mus. labelled Holotype <i>M. septemplagiata</i> Cart. B. Levey det. 1974; 1 &amp;female; (TMSHC) 62 km E. of Yalgoo WA, T.M.S. Hanlon, 4 September 2008, on fine leaf <i>Acacia</i>;; 1 &amp;male; (MPC) 35km N. of Byro Hmstd. WA, <i>Acacia</i> lvs. 29/09/04, M. Powell/ D. Knowles. <b>Diagnosis.</b> General diagnosis: length 9.3–10.4 mm; head and pronotum brownish-, greenish- or black-bronze, the central half of the pronotum and the head usually with extensive blue and purple reflections; elytra brownishcopper to reddish-purple with the apices more or less extensively suffused with a reddish-violet or violet colour, with the following silvery-blue, silvery-green or pinkish-copper, markings: a sutural vitta in the basal quarter, sometimes joined to the humeral vitta along the basal margin and extending onto the epipleura to the level of the posterior coxa; a humeral vitta of the same length or slightly shorter; a sinuate median transverse fascia which is sometimes joined to the sutural vitta; a roughly obovate pre-apical macula; underside brownish- or greenishbronze; lateral parts of underside moderately densely clothed with fairly long silvery pubescence. Head: upper third of vertex densely punctured with fairly large round to ovate punctures; remainder of head very densely punctured with ovate punctures which largely coalesce to form linear series orientated dorso-ventrally on the lower half of the vertex and the frontoclypeus; moderately densely to densely clothed with long silvery pubescence; unpunctured areas shiny to weakly microreticulate; clypeal excision rather shallow to moderately deep, U-shaped, with an unpunctured weakly to strongly microreticulate border, sometimes only well developed at centre of excision; clypeal peaks slightly acute to obtuse; vertex flat, slightly more than half the width of head across eyes when viewed from above; eyes weakly to moderately strongly convex. Antenna: serrate from segment 4–10, the segments becoming progressively smaller and slightly less elongate, the expanded part of each segment more or less quadrate in &amp;male;, that of segment 4 and sometimes 5 more or less triangular in &amp;female;, the rest more or less quadrate. Pronotum: 1.48–1.58 times as wide at base as long in midline; anterior margin strongly bisinuate, with a well developed broad median lobe; posterior margin bisinuate; widest at or near mid-length; lateral margins almost parallel for a short distance in front of posterior angles before diverging to widest point, or weakly diverging to widest point from posterior angles, thence moderately strongly curvilinearly converging to the anterior angles; slightly narrower at base than elytra at base; lateral carina slightly sinuate, about half to three-quarters complete; punctation sparse in central fifth, consisting of small round punctures, which become progressively larger and denser towards the lateral margin; usually with at least a partly developed unpunctured midline; shiny or with weak reticulate microsculpture; moderately densely clothed with fairly long silvery pubescence in lateral half. Scutellum: quadrate to slightly elongate; weakly microsculptured; about one-thirteenth to one-sixteenth width of elytra at base. Elytra: 2.50–2.70 times as long as wide at the base; basal margin weakly to moderately strongly bisinuate; slightly widening from base over the humeral callosities; thence almost parallel sided or very slightly rectilinearly widening to the mid-length, before narrowing to the very slightly attenuated rounded apices; lateral margins from just beyond mid-length and apices with moderately coarse acute serrations; sutural margin strongly raised in apical half; inner half external of the subsutural depression often with at least traces of three costate intervals, the costate interval adjacent to the subsutural depression being better defined; subsutural depression sparsely punctured with very small round punctures; punctation lateral to the first costate interval consisting of larger denser punctures which become progressively denser, larger and more ovate towards the lateral margin, where they form short transverse series; moderately strongly microreticulate. Proepisternum: very densely to contiguously punctured with moderately large, shallow, ovate and round punctures, partly obscured by dense long silvery pubescence. Prosternum: with a well defined bead at the anterior margin at almost the same level as the area behind; prosternal process slightly widening distally, sparsely punctured with small round or pin-prick punctures, with an irregular line of larger punctures near the lateral margin, and a line of partly coalescent punctures, sometimes forming a groove, next to the unpunctured lateral margin; glabrous or with a few setae near the margin. Mesoepisternum: moderately densely to densely punctured, with large, shallow, round and ovate punctures; partly obscured by long silvery pubescence. Apical sternite: with the lunate punctures coalescent near the lateral margin, but not forming well defined ridges; excision fairly deep, in &amp;male; about one and a half times as wide as deep, the lateral spines moderately developed, but not as long as depth of the flange (Fig. 203); in &amp;female; excision about twice as wide as deep, the spines shorter; distal margin of flange straight. Tarsal claws: slightly widened at base, but without a basal tooth. Aedeagus (Fig. 169): elongate with a marked dorsal flexure. Ovipositor: short, about as long as wide. <b>Comments.</b> This species is similar to <i>M. septemplagiata</i> Carter, the pronotal shape and the aedeagus being the main diagnostic features distinguishing the two species. See comments under <i>M. septemplagiata</i> Carter for other differences. <b>Etymology.</b> This species is named after the late E. B. Britton who facilitated my visit to the museums in Australia in 1974, when I embarked upon this revision. <b>Bionomics.</b> Adults collected in September and October. Adults collected on leaves of <i>Acacia</i> sp. (Fabaceae). Larval hosts unknown.
description: Published as part of <i>Levey, Brian, 2012, 3464, pp. 1-107 in Zootaxa 3464</i> on pages 30-31