Pseudotaenia gigas (Hope, 1846)

Bellamy, C. L., 2006, Studies on the Australian Chalcophorini: a new genus for Chalcophora subfasciata Carter, 1916 and a review of the Pseudotaenia Kerremans, 1903 generic-group (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), Zootaxa 1206 (1), pp. 23-46 : 30-32

Pseudotaenia gigas (Hope, 1846)

(Figure 5)

Chrysodema gigas Hope 1846a: 62 ; 1846b: 208; Saunders 1868: 5; Gemminger & Harold 1869:

1357; Masters 1886: 69. Chalcophora gigas: Lacordaire 1857: 23 . Chalcotaenia gigas: Saunders 1871: 15 ; Kerremans 1892: 43. Pseudotaenia gigas: Kerremans 1903: 81 ; 1909: 89; Obenberger 1926: 146; Carter 1929: 300;

Carnaby 1987: 24; Bellamy 2002: 56.

Chalcotaenia gigantea Nonfried 1891: 374 ; Kerremans 1892: 43.

Pseudotaenia gigantea: Kerremans 1903: 81 ; 1909: 86; Obenberger 1926: 146 (synonym of laeta ); Carter 1929: 301 (synonym of waterhousei ); Bellamy 2002: 57. syn. nov.

Type locality. “ Swan River .”

Specimens examined. The ♀ holotype ( MNHN) of Chalcotaenia gigantea ; 3 ♂♂ of P. gigas (CLBC) , Marloo St[atio]n [ YAL, 28° 18' 58.0" E116° 10' 58.8"], Wurarga, W.A., 1931–1941 .

Distribution. Australia, Western Australia

Larva. Bílý & Volkovitsh 2003: 104.

Biology/Bionomy. Bílý & Volkovitsh (2003: 112) recently discussed this species. David Knowles (in litt.) contributed: “It is well known that P. gigas is hosted by 'Jam tree' ( Acacia acuminata Benth. ) which occurs in the following IBRA Bioregions COO, MUR, GAS, YAL, AW, ESP, GS, JF, MAL and SWA. It ranges from a 1.0 m shrub to a 7 m small tree. The common name refers to the jam­like sap exudations from the burrowings of large cossid moths, P. gigas and the handsome cerambycid Rhytiphora saundersi (Pascoe) . I believe the type locality to be in error, more likely the nearest exit port. Jam first occurs in decent stands in the drier eastern Darling Range ( JF). I have never seen it in SWA where I suspect it is rare. Jam is strongly associated with granite outcrops or subsurface granites. Adults feed in the crowns of eucalypts adjacent to mature stands of Jam from late December to late February. The larvae have been collected from many localities, extracted from roots at base of trunk on smaller trees ranging up to about 2 m on big trees—the more meat the higher they emerge.” An anecdote is told about some of the old collectors targeting ‘eucs’ where the beetles were seen active in the crown but too high to effectively net. They cleared litter from beneath the roosting tree and gave the trunk an almighty wallop with the front of their jalopy first thing the following morning causing a rain of cold P. gigas from above. Mark Hanlon (in litt.) added: “ five specimens were collected 8 km SW of Goomalling, WA [ AW, 8.34 km SW Goomalling, S31° 22' 08.80" E116° 47' 32.71", elevation: 198m], on 30 Dec 1977. Specimens were active at approximately 10.30 am, landing on Acacia acuminata at the crown, then were walking down the branches onto the main trunk. A female specimen was observed between 1 to 2 metres above the ground with its abdomen extended slightly and rubbing this along the trunk of the tree looking as though it was attempting to find a place to oviposit. The diameter of the trunk at this point was approximately 5 cm. The habitat was mixed Jam ( A. acuminata ) to about 4.0 metres in height and eucalypts. The eucalypts in the vicinity were not checked to see whether adult P. gigas were on them. The following day, 1 January 1978, one specimen was observed flying over mature A. acuminata at South Tammin Flora Reserve [ AW, Tammin Railway Dam Nature Reserve, S31° 39' 57.5" E117° 32' 40.9"]. Several larva were collected from A. acuminata trunks at McDermid Rock [ COO, S32° 1' 41.4", E120° 44' 8.8"] in January 2003 with Svata Bílý. Michael Powell (in litt.) confirmed that he has collected adult P. gigas from eucalypt leaves in several localities throughout their range”.

Remarks. The type of this species ( OXUM COLE 0990) was not examined. The holotype of P. gigantea (Fig. 6) shows obvious color differences compared to P. waterhousei (Fig. 7), under which it has been synonymized until now. Even though the colors are slightly different from fresh specimens of P.gigas , and these may be the result of chemical treatment or exposure, this new synonymy is a much better match. The published type locality for P. gigantea is “Nova Guinea ”, most likely the result of mislabeling or some confusion in the transmission of the specimens to the author.