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

description: M. adusta sp. n.
(Figs 12–16, 28–30, 33, 34, 54–57, 76, 77)
Type locality: South Australia, Yunta.
Type specimens examined. Holotype ♁ (MVMA)Yunta, S.A. 1943. M.W. Mules/ F.E. Wilson Collection. Paratypes as follows: 2♀ (BLC, MVMA) same data as holotype; 2♀ (MVMA) Gol Gol, N.S.W. 4.1.4. F.E. Wilson; 11♁, 1♀ (ANIC, BLC) Alice Springs, NT, 20.xi.65, D. Carne; 2♁ (NMPC) Austr. N.T. 5.1.09. W. McDonnell N.P. Serpent Gorge. 715 m. 24 º45′S 132 º59′E, S. Bilý leg.; 1♁, 1♀ (MPC) 12 km N. Tallering WA, Feb. 11/1990, Acacia, M.Golding. M. Powell / 12 km Tallering Stn. W. Australia. 11 Feb.1990 M.R. Golding Collection, on Acacia leaves; 2♁, 1♀ (BLC, MPC) 12 km N. of Paynes Find, W.A. M. Powell & D. Knowles/ Ex. Acacia billet Coll, 4 Sep. 2004 emerged 6 Jan. 2006 & 13 Jan.2007; 1♀ (TMSHC) 43 Km W. of Meekatharra, WA 25 January 2011. M. Hanlon & M. Powell, on Acacia tysonii lvs.; 1♀ (MPC) 38 Km S. of Mt. Magnet, WA, Acacia victoriae billet, em. Jan. 2004, M. Powell/ D. Knowles.
Other specimens examined. I have excluded these specimens from the type series since they are slightly atypical: each elytron has two or three subcostate intervals, and the elytra are slightly more tapered to the apex, the apices being slightly more acute. The colour of the head of the males is also different, lacking the reddish coppery colour seen in the type series, the frontoclypeal region being partly bright green in the specimens from Carnac Island, and dull blackish green or slightly dull coppery in the other specimens. The aedeagus however does not show any significant differences to that of the type series. I originally considered these specimens to belong to two distinct subspecies but without further material I refrain from describing them.
4♁, 2♀ (ANIC) Marloo Stn., Wurarga, W.A. 1931–1941. A. Goerling. 1♁ (TMSHC) 11 km N. of Moora, W.A., T.M.S. Hanlon. Reared from dead Acacia saligna / Coll. 26 June 2006 Emerged 16 January 2007. 4♁ (SAMA) Carnac Island, A. rostellifera, 4.1.56, J.A.L. Watson. 1♀ (ANIC) Carnac Island, 2 Feb. 1936, K.R. Norris.
Diagnosis. (Description of specimens of the type series only). General diagnosis: length 7.7–9.1 mm; pronotum and elytra predominantly brownish or greenish bronze; ♁ head brownish purple, or brownish or greenish bronze in upper quarter, lower three quarters usually reddish copper, more rarely golden with bottom of punctures green, in ♀ entirely greenish to brownish bronze; underside predominantly reddish purple, the central part of prosternum and prosternal process with golden reflections; anterior faces of fore femora and fore tibia golden green to green in ♁, blue green in ♀; underside sparsely to very sparsely clothed with short silvery pubescence in central parts, laterally moderately densely clothed with moderately long silvery pubescence.
Head (Fig. 28): ♁ very densely to contiguously punctate with very small strong punctures, the narrow rims of the punctures very weakly microreticulate; moderately densely clothed with moderately long, silvery pubescence, punctation slightly less dense and less strong in ♀; clypeal excision a narrow, shallow U or V shaped notch, between broad subtruncate or rounded lobes, with the clypeal peaks and clypeal angles not or only slightly developed; vertex flat, about one half width of head across eyes when viewed from above; eyes strongly convex.
Antenna: not sexually dimorphic; segments 3–10 slightly expanded, segment 3 subtriangularly expanded, segment 4 subquadrate, segments 5–10 with expansion quadrate, very slightly petiolate at base.
Pronotum (Fig. 16): 1.52–1.63× as wide at base as long in midline; anterior margin moderately strongly bisinuate with a broad moderately developed median lobe, which is sometimes subtruncate at centre, with a well developed entire beaded margin; posterior margin weakly bisinuate; widest at or some distance behind midlength; lateral margins rectilinearly diverging to widest point from the basal angles, sometimes sinuate just in front of hind angles; anteriorly weakly curvilinearly or almost rectilinearly converging from widest point to apical angles; basal angles right-angled; as wide at base as elytra at base; lateral carina sharp very well defined, straight, about two-thirds to three-quarters complete; punctation in central half dense to very dense, consisting of small transversely ellipsoidal punctures, mostly arranged in regular transverse series, usually without an impuncate median line; punctation in lateral half, slightly larger, very dense to contiguous, the punctures mostly ovate or round; spaces between punctures moderately strongly microreticulate; with moderately long silvery pubescence confined to the lateral margin in the anterior half.
Scutellum: as long as wide, shield shaped, about one-twentieth to one-seventeenth width of elytra at base; moderately strongly microreticulate.
Elytra: 2.32–2.45× as long as wide at base; basal margin weakly bisinuate to biangulate, slightly to moderately strongly widening from base over the humeral callosities thence very slightly widening to midlength, before narrowing to the rounded apices; lateral margins in apical half and apices serrate, with acute serrations; sutural margins slightly raised in apical half; sparsely to moderately densely punctured with very small round and pin-prick punctures; punctation lateral to subsutural depression in inner half moderately densely punctured with small mostly round punctures partly arranged in regular longitudinal series, without costae but interstriae sometimes slightly costate; punctation in lateral half very dense to contiguous consisting of slightly larger transversely ovate punctures, partly arranged in transverse series; moderately strongly microreticulate between the punctures.
Hypomeron: contiguously punctate with medium sized, very shallow, round and ovate punctures, moderately densely clothed with long silvery pubescence which partly conceals the punctation; bottoms of punctures weakly microreticulate.
Prosternum: with a moderately wide bead at the anterior margin; the anterior margin at about the same level as the area behind; with moderately dense long silvery pubescence confined to the lateral half; prosternal process strongly widening distally, less wide than long at its widest point, moderately densely punctate with small round punctures, glabrous (Fig. 34).
Mesanepisternum: contiguously punctate with small variably shaped punctures, with a few long silvery setae.
Central part of metaventrite and inner third of metacoxae, very sparsely punctate with tiny round punctures, glabrous; punctation of lateral parts composed of moderately large, contiguous lunate punctures, densely clothed with long silvery pubescence; abdominal ventrites very sparsely clothed with moderately long silvery pubescence at centre, densely clothed with long silvery pubescence laterally; punctation sparse to moderately dense at centre, composed of small elongate lunate punctures, laterally with much larger, contiguous lunate punctures.
Apical ventrite (Figs 54, 55): lunate punctures coalescing to form well defined grooves parallel to the lateral margin; excision in ♁ broad, W shaped, with a narrow flange, produced at the centre as a slightly rounded to triangular lobe, with well developed, moderately long, parallel lateral spines (Fig. 54); ♀ moderately broad, U shaped with a narrow flange and moderately long, parallel lateral spines (Fig. 55).
Fore tibia: ♁ moderately strongly curved, with a setal brush in apical fifth on the anterior face; ♀ slightly less curved.
Mid tibia: ♁ moderately strongly curved, moderately swollen, with a wide, shallow, setae filled depression in apical half, on the ventral face; ♀ slightly curved, without a depression.
Aedeagus (Figs 76, 77): parameres without spine like setae, only the usual long fine setae; apex of median lobe with a broadly rounded lobe.
Ovipositor: not examined.
Comments. This species is very similar to M. myallae, mainly differing in its less uniform elytral punctation and presence of slightly costate to subcostate elytral intervals
Etymology. Named for the predominantly reddish copper head shown by most of the male specimens of the type series: from the latin adustus (burnt by the sun), a jocular reference to the face of the entomologist collecting in the interior of Australia who forgets to wear his sun hat.
Bionomics. Adults collected on Acacia spp. Leaves. Adults collected from November to February. Larval hosts Acacia sp., A. saligna; A. victoriae.
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 7-14, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5302.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/8043117