Morbora hirtula BERGROTH 1904
Creators: name: Gerry Cassis
name: Loren Vanags
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2006
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Hemiptera
Scutelleridae
Morbora
Morbora hirtula

description: Morbora hirtula BERGROTH 1904
(Figs 11b, 13d-f, 15, Table 5)
Morbora hirtula BERGROTH 1904: 356 (n.sp.); SCHOUTEDEN 1904: 87, pl. 5 fig. 10 (description; habitus); KIRKALDY 1909: 265 (catalogue); GROSS 1975: 91 fig. 22 (description; habitus); MCDONALD & CASSIS 2002: 548 (description; genitalia); CASSIS & GROSS 2002: 587 (catalogue)
Diagnosis: Morbora hirtula is recognised by the following combination of characters: dorsum with clove-shaped setae, intermixed with curly sericeous setae (Figs 13d-f); AIV longest segment; exocorium not expanded (Fig. 11b); CAI membraneous, lobe-like; CAII elongate, sickle-shaped, distally bifurcate; and, CAIII lyre-shaped and heavily sclerotized.
Description: Body small, males 4.97- 5.12, females 4.41-5.39.
Colouration. Dorsum dark brown, with contrasting markings, most notably with broad W-shaped marking on posterior 1/2 of scutellum (Fig. 11b).
Vestiture. Dorsum with dense distribution of erect, elongate, clove-shaped setae, intermixed with curly sericeous setae, mostly on head and pronotum; without fan-shaped setae (Figs 13d-f).
Structure. Antennae: AIV longest segment, little longer than AI. Labium: LII longest segment, LIII & LIV subequal in length. Pronotum: lateral margins moderately expanded (Fig. 11b); anterolateral angles not surpassing anterior margin of eyes (Fig. 11b). Hemelytra: costal margins not greatly expanded laterally. Male Genitalia: CAI membraneous, lobe-like, without sclerotization; CAII elongate, sickle-shaped, heavily sclerotized, distally bifurcate, antler-like; CAIII short, lyre-shaped, heavily sclerotized; vesica heavily sclerotized, distally tapered.
Measurements. Table 5.
Material examined: Queensland: 3♀♀, 3 km NE of Mt Webb, 15°03’S 145°09’E, A Calder & J Feehan, 30 April-3 May, 1981, ANIC Berlesate 723, ex rainforest litter (AM, ANIC); New South Wales: 4 km NE Mt Wog Wog, 17 km SE Bombala, 37°04’S 149°28’E, CR Margules, October 1991, ex pitfall (ANIC).
Distribution: Morbora hirtula is widely distributed in eastern Australia, and reaches the Northern Territory to the west. It is known from locations in Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania and South Australia (Fig. 15). It has been recorded from Victoria and the Northern Territory, but without precise locations.
Host plants and habitats: Morbora hirtula is also likely to be an epigaeic species; collected in pitfall traps or through litter extraction. It is broadly distributed across ecosystems, from open woodland to rainforest habitats.
Remarks: Morbora hirtula is best identified by the uniform distribution of elongate, clove-shaped setae on the dorsum, and lacks the fan-like setae that occur in its two congeners (cf. Figs 13a-i). Externally it is very similar to M. australis, but the male genitalia differs significantly in having three conjunctival appendages. This is also the case in M. schoutedeni, but in M. australis the bifurcation of CAII is more pronounced.
description: Published as part of Gerry Cassis & Loren Vanags, 2006, Jewel Bugs of Australia (Insecta, Heteroptera, Scutelleridae), pp. 275-398 in Denisia 19 on pages 327-328, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.12996779