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

description: <i>M. janae</i> sp. n (Figs. 110, 173, 209, 210) <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 janae</i> sp. n. B. Levey det. 24 paratypes as follows: <b>Western Australia</b>: 5&amp;male;, 4&amp;female;, (ANIC, NMWC), same data as Holotype; 2&amp;female; (ZMHB) same data as Holotype but 1938; 1&amp;female;, (MVMA), Kellerberrin, W. Australia/ F.E. Wilson Coll.; 4&amp;male;, 1&amp;female;, (IRSNB, NMWC), Merredin, X., W.A., ex coll. C. Deuquet; 1&amp;female;, (GBC), 6 Mls. S.W. of Paynes Find, 11.10.80., G. Burns; 1&amp;female; (ASC), 2.8 km N of Pinegrove Homestead, WA, -27 45 46.60, 115 39 49.70, 8.ix.2010, on leaves of large <i>Acacia</i> sp. shrub, A. Sundholm, D. Knowles; 1&amp;female;, (WAMA), 51-1794, Wialki; 1&amp;male;, 4&amp;female; (TMSHC), No. 4 pump Merredin R / <i>Melobasis</i>, on broad leaf <i>Acacia</i>, Merredin No. 4 pumping station W.A., 24.9.1940 HWB [on underside of mounting card]. <b>Diagnosis.</b> General diagnosis: length 8.0–11.0 mm; head and pronotum steel-blue, turquoise-blue or blackishgreen, sometimes pronotum at centre with a violet reflection; elytra bluish-violet or reddish-violet, with the following yellow-green, golden or coppery markings: a sutural vitta in the basal fifth to quarter; a slightly shorter oblique humeral vitta internal to the humeral callosity, which extends laterally along the basal margin and along the lateral margin for a short distance, and is continued along the epipleura to the level of the hind coxa; a slightly sinuate transverse median fascia which extends from the outer edge of the substural depression, almost to the lateral margin; a roughly obovate to slightly transverse pre-apical macula; underside greenish- or brownishbronze; lateral parts of underside moderately densely clothed with moderately long silvery pubescence. Head: very densely to contiguously punctured with small round and elliptical punctures which sometimes coalesce to form linear series orientated dorso-ventrally on the lower half of the vertex and the frontoclypeus; densely clothed with fairly long silvery pubescence; unpunctured areas shiny to strongly microreticulate; clypeal excision moderately deep, U-shaped, with an unpunctured weakly to strongly microreticulate border which is sometimes only developed at centre; clypeal peaks acute; vertex flat, three fifths the width of head across eyes when viewed from above; eyes moderately strongly to strongly convex. Antenna: serrate from segment 4–10, the segments becoming progressively smaller and slightly less elongate, in &amp;male; the expanded part of the segments is quadrate, in &amp;female; the expanded part of segments 4 and 5 are more or less triangular, segments 6–10 subquadrate. Pronotum: 1.37–1.50 times as wide at base as long in midline; anterior margin bisinuate, with a shallowly produced broad median lobe, which is sometimes scarcely produced and the margin is almost straight at the centre; anterior beaded margin narrow, but well defined; posterior margin bisinuate; widest at or slightly in front of the mid-length; lateral margins almost parallel for a short distance in front of posterior angles thence very slightly divergent to widest point, sometimes almost as wide at posterior angles as at widest point; moderately strongly curvilinearly convergent from widest point to the anterior angles; almost as wide as or slightly narrower at base than elytra at base; lateral carina slightly sinuate, about half to three-quarters complete; punctation sparse to moderately dense in central fifth, consisting of small round punctures and pin-prick 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 moderately long silvery pubescence which is confined to the lateral third of the pronotum. Scutellum: approximately heart shaped to slightly transverse quadrate; shiny or weakly microsculptured; about one-tenth to one-thirteenth width of elytra at base. Elytra: 2.37–2.72 times as long as wide at the base; basal margin weakly bisinuate; very slightly widening from base over the humeral callosities; just behind the humeral callosity the elytra often become very slightly constricted for a short distance before slightly widening to the mid-length, thence narrowing to the broadly rounded apices; lateral margins from somewhat beyond mid-length and apices with strong acute serrations; sutural margin strongly raised in apical half; each elytron with a slightly developed costa next to the subsutural depression, sometimes with indications of a less well defined costa lateral to the first costa; 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 or contiguously punctured with moderately large, shallow round and ovate punctures, partly obscured by moderately long silvery pubescence. Prosternum: with a narrow bead at the anterior margin, at the same level as the area behind; prosternal process almost parallel sided or slightly widening behind the fore coxae, very sparsely punctured with pin-prick punctures, with a groove formed from coalescent punctures near the lateral margin; glabrous, or with sparse setae near the lateral margin. Mesoepisternum: very densely to contiguously punctured, with moderately large, shallow, lunate and round punctures; partly obscured by long silvery pubescence. Apical sternite: with lunate punctures near the lateral margin contiguous, but not forming grooves parallel to the lateral margin; excision about two times as wide as deep in &amp;male; (Fig. 209), three to four times as wide as deep in &amp;female; (Fig. 210); the lateral spines slightly developed, shorter than the depth of the flange; distal margin of flange straight Tarsal claws: slightly widened at base, but without a basal tooth. Aedeagus (Fig. 173): parameres strongly constricted near base and immediately before the apical setae-bearing part. Ovipositor: short, slightly wider than long. <b>Comments:</b> This species is very similar in colour, elytral markings and general appearance to <i>M. powelli</i> <b>sp. n.</b>, but can be distinguished by the form of the aedeagus, pronotal shape and other more minor differences (see comments under <i>M. powelli</i>). From <i>M. goerlingi</i> it is most easily distinguished by the form of the aedeagus and the narrower vertex. <b>Etymology.</b> This species is named after my wife Jan for all her support over the years. <b>Bionomics.</b> Adults have been collected in September and October. Adults collected from broad leaved <i>Acacia</i> (Fabaceae). Larval hosts unknown.
description: Published as part of <i>Levey, Brian, 2012, 3464, pp. 1-107 in Zootaxa 3464</i> on pages 42-43