Melobasis cupricollis, Kerremans, 1898

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), Zootaxa 5302 (1), pp. 1-100 : 51-52

M. cupricollis Kerremans

(Figs 78, 83, 87, 94, 95, 103, 104)

Melobasis cupricollis Kerremans 1898:121 ; 1903:159; Carter 1929:284; Obenberger 1930:429; Bellamy 2002:150; 2008:1319.

Type locality: Australia .

Melobasis abigailae Turner & Hawkeswood 2009: 205 ; Hawkeswood 2011:1; Bellamy et al. 2013:55. Syn. nov. [I have not seen the Holotype specimen, but the illustrations of the aedeagus, dorsal habitus and the original description convince me that this a junior synonym of M. cupricollis .]

Type locality: near Sofala , New South Wales .

Type specimens examined. M. cupricollis Kerremans. Holotype ♀ ( BMNH) cupricollis Kerr. Type/ Australie H. Deyr./ M. cupricollis kerr. Australie / Kerremans 1903 -59/ HOLOTYPE Melobasis cupricollis Kerr. B. Levey det. 1995.

Other specimens examined. New South Wales: Armidale ; Berkshire Park ; Bulga ; Bulli ; Dangars Falls, Armidale ; Lapstone Hill ; Lennox Bridge, Blue Mts. ; Cabramatta ; Menai ; Moonbi Hill, N.E. of Tamworth ; Nepean Gorge, near Mulgoa ; Singleton ; Tahmoor, near Picton ; Tea Tree Creek , Armidale ; Wallaroo State Forest , Warrumbungle Ranges . Queensland: Barakula, 23 km N.N.E., 26.132S 150.35E; Eukey; Ipswich; Lower Palm Creek , 27.678S 152.089E; Milmerran; Rockhampton. Specimens in ANIC, BLC, BMNH, CLBC, GWC, IRSNB, MVMA, NMWC, QMA, TMSHC, WAMA.

Diagnosis. General diagnosis: length 6.7–11.9 mm; head in ♁ green, with upper quarter of vertex reddish-purple, ♀ entirely green; pronotum and elytra in ♁ green, golden green to coppery, ♀ usually dull green often with extensive dull reddish-purple reflections, more rarely elytra entirely dull reddish-purple; elytral apices and lateral margins in apical third, in both sexes, usually reddish purple to violet; underside in both sexes entirely green to golden green, laterally sparsely clothed with short silvery pubescence, central part of the prosternum, prosternal process, mesosternum, central parts of metaventrite and abdominal ventrites glabrous.

Head ( Fig. 87 ): in ♁ contiguously punctate with very small strong round punctures, densely clothed with long silvery pubescence; in ♀ very densely punctate with weaker punctures, more sparsely clothed, with less conspicuous silvery pubescence; clypeal excision shallow arcuate, with a narrow, reticulate, impunctate border; clypeal peaks poorly developed, obtuse to right angled; clypeal angles not, or little indicated; vertex flat, in ♁ slightly less than half width of head across eyes, in ♀ about half width of head across eyes, when viewed from above; eyes in ♁ very strongly convex, in ♀ strongly convex.

Antenna: slightly sexually dimorphic; ♁ segment 3 very slightly triangularly expanded, segments 4–10 with the expansion quadrate; ♀ segment 3 not expanded, segment 4 triangularly expanded, segments 5–10 with expansion quadrate.

Pronotum: 1.53–1.70× as wide at base as long in midline; anterior margin moderately bisinuate with a weakly to moderately developed median lobe, with a narrow beaded margin, which is sometimes poorly defined at the centre of the median lobe; posterior margin weakly biarcuate; widest near basal third; lateral margins weakly rectilinearly diverging from basal angles to widest point, sometimes with a slight sinuation just anterior to the basal angles, before weakly curvilinearly converging to apical angles; basal angles slightly acute; slightly narrower at base than elytra at base; lateral carina well defined, slightly curved, about two-thirds to three-quarters complete; punctation in central half dense to very dense, consisting of transversely ovate and ellipsoidal punctures; punctation in lateral half very dense to contiguous, the punctures transversely ovate next to the central half, becoming round towards the lateral margin; spaces between punctures imperceptibly to weakly microreticulate; sometimes with a partial or complete impunctate median line; glabrous, or with short inconspicuous silvery pubescence in the anterior quarter.

Scutellum: quadrate to slightly transverse, heart to shield shaped, about one-tenth to one- thirteenth width of elytra at base; microreticulate.

Elytra: 2.14–2.38× as long as wide at base; basal margin weakly biarcuate, slightly to moderately strongly widening from base over the humeral callosities thence parallel sided to slightly widening to midlength, before narrowing to the rounded apices; lateral margins from just behind midlength and apices serrate, with acute serrations; sutural margins slightly raised in apical half to two-thirds; each elytron with traces of two or three slightly raised intervals in internal half, the associated punctation partly arranged in regular longitudinal series, but not forming punctate striae, the punctures small, round, moderately dense, those of the subsutural depression slightly smaller; punctation in external half dense to very dense, consisting of slightly larger, transversely oval to ellipsoidal punctures, partly arranged in transverse rows; weakly microreticulate.

Hypomeron ( Fig. 83 ): very densely to contiguously punctate with large, very shallow mostly ovate punctures, with sparse short silvery pubescence, bottom of punctures microreticulate.

Prosternum: with a broad bead at the anterior margin; the anterior margin at the same level as the area behind; prosternal process slightly widening distally, moderately densely punctate with small, round punctures, glabrous.

Mesanepisternum: densely punctate with small punctures of variable shape.

Central part metaventrite, inner part of metacoxa, central part of abdominal ventrites glabrous, more sparsely and weakly punctate than lateral parts of these structures which are very densely punctate with lunate punctures, with sparse moderately long silvery pubescence.

Apical ventrite ( Figs 94, 95 ): lunate punctures coalescing near the lateral margin and forming grooves; excision in ♁ broad, W shaped, with a roughly triangular sometimes truncated flange at the centre, with moderately long, well developed, slightly divergent lateral spines ( Fig. 94 ); ♀ narrower, U shaped, with a moderately broad flange for its entire width, the lateral spines well developed slightly divergent ( Fig. 95 ).

Fore tibia: slightly curved, with a slightly developed setal brush on the anterior face at the apex in ♁; tibia slightly less curved in ♀.

Mid tibia: almost straight without teeth or a depression along the ventral face in both sexes.

Tarsal claws widened at the base but without a basal tooth.

Aedeagus ( Figs 103, 104 ): parameres rather abruptly constricted before the apical setae bearing part; apical setae bearing part with regularly curved lateral margins, rather broad, spoon shaped, less chitinised than rest of parameres, with numerous small curved spine like setae, in addition to the usual long fine setae; median lobe with an arrow head shaped tip.

Ovipositor: not examined.

Comments: This species is most similar to M. jacquelinae in overall appearance, but distinguished by the punctation at sides of the apical ventrite of the abdomen coalescent and forming longitudinal grooves, (coalescent but not forming grooves in M. jacquelinae ), and the punctation of hypomeron, which is composed of large shallow, ovate to ellipsoidal punctures, the flat bottoms of which are distinctly microsculptured ( Fig. 83 ), (punctation of hypomeron composed of smaller, contiguous, mostly round or ovate punctures, the bottoms of which are not microsculptured in M. jacquelinae ). The aedagus also differs from that of M. jacquelinae in having the parameres rather abruptly constricted before the apical setae bearing part, the apical setae bearing part being spoon shaped, apex of median lobe strongly arrow head shaped (Figs 103,104), (parameres more gradually constricted before the apical setae bearing part, the apical setae bearing part not spoon shaped, apex of median lobe less distinctly arrow head shaped in M. jacquelinae (Figs 109,110). This species is also very similar to M. ordinata sp. n. which has the two former characters similar to those seen in M. jacquelinae , but differs additionally in having two distinct costa in the inner half of the elytra, with the punctation arranged in more or less regular longitudinal series adjacent to these costa.

Bionomics. Adults collected from November to February, with most records from December & January. Adults have been collected from bipinnate Acacia sp. , A. cultriformis , A. adunca , A. parramattensis ?, A. harpophylla . Larval host A. spectabilis ( Turner & Hawkeswood 2009) .

Figures

FIGURES 87–93. 87–91 head:87.M.cupricollis Kerremans (J Warrumbungle Ranges, N.S.W.ANIC); 88. M.apicalis Macleay (J Mt. Hopeful, Q. TMSHC); 89. M. conicollis Obenberger (holotype ♀); 90. M. ordinata sp. n. (J); 91. M. jacquelinae Turner & Hawkeswood (J Queensland ANIC). 92–93 fore tibia M. apicalis Macleay (J Mt. Hopeful, Q. TMSHC): 92 anterior view; 93. posterior view. Scale bars = 1.0 mm.

FIGURES 82–86. 82 dorsal habitus: M. jacquelinae Turner & Hawkeswood (♀ Stanthorpe, Q.) Scale bar = 5.0 mm; 83–84 hypomeron: 83. M. cupricollis Kerremans; 84. M. ordinata sp. n. 85–86 prosternal process: 85. M. apicalis Macleay (J Mt. Hopeful, Q. TMSHC); 86. M. jacquelinae Turner & Hawkeswood (J Berkshire Park, N.S.W. BLC). Scale bars = 1.0 mm.

FIGURES 94–100. apical ventrite: 94. M. cupricollis Kerremans (J Warrumbungle Ranges, N.S.W. ANIC); 95. M. cupricollis Kerremans (♀ Cabramatta, N.S.W.); 96. M. apicalis Macleay (J Mt. Hopeful, Q. TMSHC); 97. M. apicalis Macleay (♀ Mt. Hopeful, Q. TMSHC); 98. M. conicollis Obenberger (holotype ♀); 99. M. ordinata sp. n. (J Quibray Bay, N.S.W. BLC); 100. M. ordinata sp. n. (♀ Menai, N.S.W. BLC). Scale bars = 1.0 mm.

FIGURES 101–106. 101–102 apical ventrite: 101. M. jacquelinae Turner & Hawkeswood (J); 102. M. jacquelinae Turner & Hawkeswood (♀). Scale bars. = 1.0 mm. 103–106 aedeagus & apex of parameres: 103–104. M. cupricollis Kerremans (Nepean Gorge, N.S.W. BLC); 105–106. M. apicalis Macleay (Mt. Hopeful, Q. TMSHC). Scale bars of aedeagus = 1.0 mm; scale bars for apex of parameres = 0.5 mm.