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

description: M. tricolor sp. n.
(Figs 117, 130, 147, 148, 170, 171)
Type locality: Western Australia, Broome.
Type specimens examined. Holotype ♁ (MVMA) Broome N.W.A. 15.2.47. H.W. Brown / on wattle/ F.E. Wilson Collection / Holotype Melobasis tricolor sp. n. B. Levey 2012.
Paratypes as follows: 4♁, 1♀ (MVMA) same data as holotype. 1♀ (MVMA) Broome N.W.A. W. du Boulay / Melobasis lauta Mcl. 3♁, 12 ♀ (BLC, IRSNB, NMWC) Coll. R. I. Sc. N. B. Australie N- W.A. Broome. Dec. ex coll. C. Deuquet. 2♁ (ANIC) W. du. B. W. A. 2/47/ J.G. Brooks Bequest 1976. 2♁ (BLC) W. du. B. W. A. 2/47. 1♁, 2♀ (AMSA) Broome W. Austr. Dec. W. B. / v. near Melobasis aurocyanea Cart. 4♁, 1♀ (TMSHC) Broome N.W. Australia H.W. Brown.
Other specimens examined. W. Australia: 1♁, 2♀ (MPC) 180 km S.W. Broome, Feb. 16 1986, Acacia eriopoda. 3♀ (TMSHC) Fairway Drive, Broome W.A. 3 March 2008 & 2 March 2009, T.M.S.Hanlon, on leaves Acacia holosericea. 1♁ (BLC) no data. 1♁ (MVMA) no data. 2♁ 3♀ (MMSA) Derby W.A.? 11:21. Queensland: I have seen specimens from 100 km N. of Cloncurry, 6.ii.2003, which on upperside colouration, size and shape are probably this species, but was not able to examine them in detail to confirm their identity.
Diagnosis. General diagnosis: length 6.25–8.13 mm; ♁ head reddish purple; ♀ light green to emerald green, with the distal part of the frontoclypeus often suffused with reddish purple or reddish copper; ♁ pronotum golden to golden-green at the centre, broadly coppery to reddish purple at the sides; ♀ light green to emerald green at centre, more narrowly golden, coppery or reddish purple at the sides; scutellum golden, reddish purple or deep violet; elytra blue-black or deep violet with the basal margin broadly, and a very short sutural vitta golden or golden-green contiguous with a broad, reddish copper to reddish purple lateral vitta extending along the lateral margin to apical eighth; underside reddish violet to violet, sometimes with deep green reflections; appearing glabrous, but with some short adpressed silvery setae laterally.
Head (Fig. 130): densely to very densely punctate with small, mostly round punctures, punctures slightly stronger in ♁; ♁ sparsely clothed with inconspicuous fairly short adpressed silvery pubescence, ♀ glabrous; spaces between the punctures weakly microreticulate; clypeal excision shallow, arcuate, with a narrow, impunctate, microreticulate border; clypeal peaks acutely angled, clypeal angles absent; vertex flat, about half width of head across eyes when viewed from above; eyes very strongly convex.
Antenna: segments 3–10 expanded, segment 3 with expansion triangular in ♁, subtriangular in ♁; ♁ segments 4– 10 with expansion quadrate, about 1.25x as long as wide, petiolate at base; ♁ segment 4 with expansion subquadrate, segments 5–10 with expansion quadrate, about as long as wide, slightly less petiolate at base.
Pronotum: 1.53–1.66× as wide at base as long in midline; anterior margin very weakly bisinuate with a scarcely indicated median lobe, with a narrow entire beaded margin; posterior margin weakly biarcuate; widest at basal third to midlength; lateral margins very weakly diverging from basal angles to widest point, before weakly curvilinearly converging to apical angles; basal angles slightly acute; as wide at base as elytra at base; lateral carina slightly curved, slightly more than half complete; punctation in central half dense to very dense, consisting of transversely oval and elliptical punctures; sometimes with indications of an incomplete impunctate median line; punctation in lateral half very dense, the punctures mostly round; spaces between punctures weakly to moderately strongly microreticulate; sometimes with a small punctiform depression just anterior to the scutellum; glabrous.
Scutellum: elongate, oblong to shield shaped, tiny, about one-twentieth fifth to one-thirty fifth width of elytra at base; microreticulate.
Elytra: 2.11–2.20x as long as wide at base; basal margin moderately strongly biangulate, slightly widening from base over the humeral callosities thence very slightly widening to midlength, before narrowing to the broad, slightly angulate apices; lateral margins in apical half with large, acute serrations, the serrations much smaller between extreme apex and sutural margin; sutural margins moderately strongly raised in apical half; without costae or costate intervals, although the 1st interstria may be slightly convex in apical half; punctation in inner half mostly sparse, consisting of pin-prick and small round punctures, partly arranged in longitudinal series; punctation in outer half very dense, consisting of larger transversely ovate punctures, mostly forming transverse series; weakly to moderately strongly microreticulate between the punctures.
Hypomeron: contiguously punctate with fairly large, very shallow, ovate punctures, the bottom of the punctures weakly microreticulate, glabrous.
Prosternum: with a broad bead at the anterior margin; the anterior margin lower than the area behind; prosternal process moderately slightly widening distally, almost as wide as long at its widest point, densely to very densely punctate, with small round punctures, glabrous.
Mesanepisternum: strongly microreticulate, with some large very shallow punctures present.
Central part of metaventrite and inner part of metacoxa very sparsely punctate with small weak mostly pin-prick punctures, glabrous; lateral parts of metaventrite and metacoxae contiguously punctate, with fairly large shallow ovate and lunate punctures; abdominal ventrites, densely to very densely punctate, with small lunate punctures in central-third; laterally with much larger, coalescent, lunate punctures, with very short, inconspicuous, silvery pubescence.
Apical ventrite (Figs 147, 148): contiguously punctate with very large elongate, lunate punctures in lateral two-thirds, very densely punctured with smaller lunate punctures in central third; excision in ♁ wide, slightly W shaped, rather deep, with a well developed flange, triangularly produced at centre; lateral spines well developed, slightly divergent (Fig. 147); ♀ much narrower, U shaped, with a well developed flange (Fig. 148).
Fore tibia: ♁ moderately strongly curved, with a small setal brush at the apex on the anterior face, and a few small teeth on the ventral face at the apex; ♀ slightly curved, with a small setal brush at the apex on the anterior face, but without teeth on the ventral face.
Mid tibia: ♁moderately strongly curved, with a small tooth at the apex on the ventral face; ♀ slightly curved, without a tooth at apex.
Aedeagus (Figs 170, 171): parameres rather strongly narrowing from base to the apical setae bearing parts, which are only slightly widened; no spine like setae present; apex of median lobe strongly narrowing apically, with an acute tip.
Ovipositor: not examined.
Comments. This species is easily distinguished from all the other known Australian species by its upperside colouration. The form of the aedeagus will also distinguish it from any other known species in the species group.
Etymology. This species is named after its conspicuous tricoloured upperside.
Bionomics. Adults have been collected on Acacia eriopoda & Acacia holosericea. Adults have been collected in February–March.
The azureipennis species group
This group does not appear to be closely related to any other species group. It shares with members of the pusilla species group broadly appendiculate tarsal claws, which I had overlooked in my original key to the species group (Levey 2012). This is probably a convergent character, and may not indicate a close phylogenetic relationship of these two species groups.
The bifurcate flange of the excision of the apical ventrite seen in the female of both species in the group (Figs 189, 191), and the apical setae bearing part of parameres small, with spine like setae confined to the basal corner (Figs 192–195), are unique to the group. The following characters are also shared by the species in the group but are not unique to the group: elytra with regular seriate punctation over nearly the entire surface; mesanepisternum microreticulate and with small variably shaped punctures; fore- and mid tibia of male strongly curved, with teeth on the ventral face. Adults of both species in the group are found on Malvaceae, which are assumed to be larval hosts.
Key to the species of the azureipennis species group
1 Pronotum entirely reddish-copper; lateral margins of elytra with closer spaced serrations, about 18 – 20 serrations between midlength of elytra and suture; prosternal process moderately densely punctate with small strong punctures, in J with moderately dense, moderately long pubescence; excision of apical ventrite in J with the flange produced at the centre has a broadly rounded or almost rectangular lobe (Fig. 188); Queensland ........................... M. azureipennis Macleay
- Pronotum golden green or reddish copper, with a median vitta in the central quarter to third, bluish-green or reddish-purple; lateral margins of elytra with wider spaced serrations, about 15–16 serrations between midlength of elytra and suture; prosternal process very sparsely punctate with tiny round and pin-prick punctures, with a row of larger punctures close to the lateral margin, glabrous in both sexes; excision of apical ventrite in J with wide straight flange occupying half the depth of the excision (Fig. 190); N. Territory......................................................... M. fritzbrechteli sp. n.
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 89-91, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5302.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/8043117