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

description: M. oculata sp. n.
(Figs 3, 20, 38, 39, 60, 61)
Type locality: Queensland, Marmor.
Type specimens examined. Holotype ♁ (WAMA) Marmor Qld./ 72-607 du Boulay Coll./ my determination label. Paratypes as follows: 4♁, 4♀ (BLC, WAMA) same data as Holotype but with numbers 72-550, 72-552, 72-553, 72-606. 3♁, 1♀ (SAMA) Marmor, Queensland. 3♁, 1♀ (BLC) Sellheim, N.Q. 11/42 G.B.; 4♁, 1♀ (BLC, MVMA) Rockhampton Qld. H.W. Brown/ F.E. Wilson Coll.; 7♁, 3♀ (BLC, GHNC) Australia, Qld, Edungalba “Mourangee”/ 21.XI.81 E.E. Adams/ on burned dying trees in softwood scrub; 3♁ (BLC) C. Queensland, Edungalba, ‘Seperation’ Feb. 1946 / On Brigalow? C. Smith; 1♁, 1♀ GHNC) Australia, Qld., Edungalba, X.4.1964, E.E.Adams/ On Bohenia; 1♁, 2♀ (ANIC) Melobasis sp.! Edungalba C.Q., Oct. 18 th 1958, on Bohenia (E.E.A.)/ C.G.L.Gooding Collection donated to A.N.I.C. 1979; 1♁ (BLC) Mourangee, Edungalba, Qld., 77-XI-1981, S. Barker; 1♁ (SAMA) Stone Dam, 16 km North Edungalba Creek, on Brigalow, 1.XI.1975, S. Barker; 4♁, 2♀ (BLC, MVMA) G.G. Burns, Edungalba, Qld., 28.11.1981; 4♁, 2♀ (MPC, TMSHC) Mourangee Stn. Qld., 28 Oct. 2000, on regrowth Bauhinia; 2♀ (AMSA) Clermont, Queensland, Dr.K.K. Spence, XI.29; 1♀ (QMA) 24 º32′S 150 º36′E, Mt. Scoria, 200m, 20 Dec. 2000 – 23. Dec. 2001, Cook & Monteith, vine scrub, Intercept 9981; 1♀ (QMA) as before but 21 Oct.–19 Dec.2000. Flight intercept 9843; 1♀ SEQ: 24 º48′S 149 º47′E, Brigalow Res. Stn. Site 4, 29 Oct.–16 Dec. 2000, Cook & Monteith, FIT. Brigalow, 170 m, 9815; 1♁ (QMA) Qld. Wycarba, 24 Oct. 2002, D. Kitchin; 1♀ (BLC) coll. R. I. Sc. N. B., Australie, Queensl., Mackay, Dec., ex coll C. Deuquet,1♁, 1♀ (BCM) Australia [ex. S. Barton coll.]; 1♁ (ZMHB) no data.; 1♁ (NMPC) Northam, West Australia, W. du Boulay XII.46/ Typus/ Melobasis oculata m. Type Det Dr. Obenberger; 1♁ (NMPC) same as before but labelled Cotype/ Melobasis oculata m. CoType Det Dr. Obenberger/ popsat [describe]. [The locality is undoubtedly incorrect and the species was never described by Obenberger].
Other specimens examined. 1♁, 6♀ (QMA) Qld. 20.07.0S 146.37.8 E Rochford Scrub site 3, 280 m., 11 Dec. 2006 – 11 Feb. 2007, S. Wright, malaise 14592, vine scrub, lancewood/ bendee; 1♀ (QMA) Qld. 19.45.1S 146.27.1 E Fanning Riv. HS 3.2 km S E; 9 Dec. 2006 – 10 Feb. 2007, S Wright, malaise 14589, 330 m, vine scrub; 1♀ (QMA) 6 km N. Taroom Qld. 25.36S 149.46E, 200m, 1 Oct. 1991, G. Daniels; 1♀ (BMNH) N. Australia, Rockhampton, 67.27; 1♀ (BMNH) W. Australia / Saunders 74.18.; 1♁ (IRSNB) Victoria, Le Moult coll.
Diagnosis. General diagnosis: length 8.6–12.0 mm; lower half of head in ♁ green, sometimes becoming narrowly coppery at the frontoclypeal margin, upper fifth reddish purple, head in ♀ greenish or brownish bronze. pronotum and elytra greenish to brownish bronze sometimes with dull reddish purple reflections on the pronotum and the elytral costae; underside predominantly greenish to blackish bronze; anterior faces of fore femora and tibia, and antenna and sometimes prosternal process bright green in ♁, duller green in ♀; underside in ♁ densely clothed with long silvery pubescence on the centre of the prosternum, prosternal process, mesosternum, metaventrite close to the midline, inner edge of metacoaxa, and ventral surfaces of the trochanta and inner half of femora on all legs; the rest of the underside except for mesanepisternum, which is almost glabrous, densely clothed with moderately long silvery pubescence; centre of prosternum, prosternal process, mesosternum, and central half of metaventrite in ♀ glabrous or very sparsely clothed with short silvery pubescence, rest of underside densely clothed with moderately long silvery pubescence except for the mesanepisternum, which is almost glabrous.
Head (Fig. 20): ♁ contiguously punctate with very small strong punctures, the narrow rims of the punctures shiny; ♀ very densely punctate with slightly larger shallower punctures, the spaces between the punctures shiny to very weakly microreticulate; ♁ very densely clothed with moderately long silvery pubescence which partly obscures the punctuation; ♀ moderately densely clothed with moderately long silvery pubescence, which does not obscure the punctuation; clypeal excision a broad, shallow V shaped, sometimes with indications of a slight notch at the centre, with the clypeal peaks rounded or obtuse, only slightly developed; vertex flat, one quarter to slightly less than one third width of head across eyes when viewed from above; eyes very strongly convex.
Antenna: not sexually dimorphic; segments 3–10 expanded, segment 3 and sometimes 4 subtriangularly expanded, segments 4 or 5–10 with expansion quadrate, slightly petiolate at base.
Pronotum: 1.42–1.56× as wide at base as long in midline; anterior margin moderately strongly bisinuate with a broad well developed median lobe, which is sometimes subtruncate, with a well developed entire beaded margin; widest just behind midlength to near basal third; lateral margins weakly rectilinearly diverging from basal angles to widest point, sometimes with a slight sinuation in front of the basal angle; anteriorly weakly curvilinearly to almost rectilinearly converging from widest point to apical angles; basal angles nearly right angled; slightly narrower at base to as wide as elytra at base; lateral carina sharp very well defined, slightly curved, about three-quarters to four-fifths complete; punctuation in central fifth moderately dense to dense, consisting of small ovate to ellipsoidal punctures, sometimes with a partial to almost complete impunctate median line; punctuation in lateral four-fifths very dense to contiguous, consisting of transversely ellipsoidal punctures nearer the centre, and round punctures near the lateral margin; spaces between punctures weakly microreticulate; moderately densely clothed with silvery pubescence near lateral margin and more broadly near apical angle, glabrous elsewhere.
Scutellum: slightly transverse, shield shaped, about one-eleventh to one-thirteenth width of elytra at base; moderately strongly microreticulate.
Elytra: 2.49–2.68× as long as wide at base; basal margin weakly biangulate, moderately strongly to strongly widening from base over the humeral callosities thence almost parallel sided 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; each elytron with three well defined costae, the inner two extending from close to the base to apical sixth where they sometimes fuse, the third costa usually less well defined, extending from posterior of the humeral callosity to apical quarter; sutural boss not apparent, not delineated at its lateral edge by a short costa; area between suture and 1 st costa moderately densely punctate with small ovate punctures; areas between 1 st and 2 nd, and 2 nd and 3 rd costae moderately densely punctate with slightly transversely ellipsoidal punctures; area lateral to 3 rd costa densely punctate with slightly larger transversely ellipsoidal punctures; weakly to moderately strongly microreticulate between the punctures.
Hypomeron: contiguously punctate with small, shallow round and ovate punctures, in part obscured by dense, long, silvery pubescence.
Prosternum: with a narrow bead at the anterior margin; the anterior margin at about the same level as the area behind; densely clothed with long silvery pubescence in ♁, glabrous at centre except close to the beaded margin in ♀; prosternal process strongly widening distally, less wide than long at its widest point, densely to very densely punctate with small round punctures, largely obscured by dense, long silvery pubescence in ♁, sparsely to very sparsely punctate with very small round and pin-prick punctures, glabrous in ♀.
Mesanepisternum: sparsely to very densely punctured with small variably shaped and pin prick punctures over most of the surface, with some long silvery pubescence associated with larger, round, shallow punctures, in the anterior third.
Central part of metaventrite close to the midline and inner edge of metacoxae densely punctate with small punctures, clothed with long silvery pubescence in ♁; sparsely to very sparsely punctate, glabrous to sparsely pubescent, with shorter silvery pubescence in ♀; punctation of lateral parts in both sexes composed of very dense, shallow, mostly round punctures, partly obscured by moderately long silvery pubescence; abdominal ventrites sparsely clothed with moderately long silvery pubescence at centre, densely clothed with moderately long silvery pubescence laterally, which in part obscures the punctuation; punctuation composed of small lunate punctures, which are sparse at centre and dense to very dense laterally.
Apical ventrite (Figs 38, 39): lunate punctures coalescing to form grooves parallel to the lateral margin; excision in ♁ broad, W shaped, with a broad bisinuate flange, with well developed, short, slightly divergent lateral spines (Fig. 38); ♀ narrower, U-shaped, with a broad straight flange, the lateral spines short, slightly divergent (Fig. 39).
Fore tibia: ♁ slightly curved, with a setal brush in apical quarter on the anterior face; ♀ with tibia almost straight, setal brush about as well developed as in ♁.
Mid tibia: ♁ slightly curved with a long shallow, not setae-filled, depression on the ventral face; ♀ almost straight, without a depression on the ventral face.
Aedeagus (Figs 60, 61): parameres with apical setae bearing part with numerous, small, spine like setae, in addition to the usual long fine setae; apex of median lobe narrowly truncate at tip.
Ovipositor: elongate, about five times as long as wide at its widest point.
Comments. This species is most likely to be confused with the probably closely related M. costata which is sympatric with it. For differences see key and comments under M. costata.
Etymology. I have used the manuscript name proposed by Obenberger, which is also a reference to the strongly convex eyes of this species.
Bionomics. Adults collected on Bauhinia (Fabaceae) and Brigalow Acacia harpophylla (Fabaceae). The larval host is unknown. Adults collected from October to February.
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 36-38, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5302.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/8043117