Melobasis propinqua subsp. propinqua, propinqua (Laporte & Gory)

Levey, Brian, 2012, 3464, Zootaxa 3464, pp. 1-107 : 57-58

M. propinqua propinqua (Laporte & Gory)

( Fig. 149)

Buprestis (Melobasis) propinqua Laporte & Gory, 1837:120 ; Saunders 1868:15; Gemminger & Harold 1869:1383; Saunders 1871:44; Masters 1886: 74; Blackburn 1887:240; Kerremans 1892:105; 1903:158; Carter 1921:2; 1923: 71, 78, 80; 1929:284; Obenberger 1930:430; Bellamy 2002:160; 2003:133 (figure 325); 2008:1330. Type locality: Australia ( Nouvelle-Hollande).

Melobasis cuprifera Carter, 1923:71 , 78, 80 not Buprestis (Melobasis) cuprifera (Laporte & Gory) 1837 .

Buprestis propinqua Hope 1836:8 (nom. nud.; unavailable name); Saunders 1868:15; Gemminger & Harold 1869:1383; Obenberger 1956:135. Type locality: Western Australia, S. R. [presumably Swan River]. Locality data presumably incorrect.

Type specimens examined. Buprestis (Melobasis) propinqua Laporte & Gory. Holotype ♀ ( MNHN), Type Gory / Type / Melobasis propinqua C. et G. Type.

Buprestis propinqua Hope. Holotype ♂ ( OUMNH) propinqua Hope S.R. / Type? H.J. Carter Melobasis propinqua / Type Coll. 939 Buprestis propinqua Hope.

Other specimens examined. New South Wales: Armidale; Baan Baa; Berkshire Park; Blackheath; Blue Mts.; Chapman Ridge; Charlestown; Colo Heights District; 5.5 mls S. of Coonabarabran; Cordeaux; Cowan; Cullen Bullen; Faulconbridge Ridge; Garrawilla; 13.5 mls S. of Gosford; Grafton; Hanging Rock; Harrington; Hazelbrook; Heathcote; Heathcote Rd., S.E. of Liverpool; Hill End; Hornsby; Jannali; Jannali–Como; Katoomba; Killara; Kuring-gai; Lake Hiawatha; Lambton; Lapstone Hill; Lennox Bridge; Leura; Maroota; Mooney Mooney; Mt. Boyce; Mt. Kaputar National Park; Mt. White; Mt. York; Old Bar, 0.5 Km N. of Taree; Pilliga E. State Forest; Rocky Glen; Royal National Park, Sydney; Sackville; St. Albans; Sandy Pt.; Singleton; Strathfield; Sydney; Timmallallie State Forest; 11 mls S. of Uralla; Wardell; Warrumbungle National Park; Waterfall. Queensland: Beerwah; Blackdown Plateau; Brisbane; Bulwer; Burleigh; Burrum Heads; Caboolture; Caloundro; Chinchilla; Coolum; Fletcher; Glen Aplin; Ipswich; Mydore; Rockhampton; Stanthorpe; Stradbroke Is.; The Summit; Toowoomba; Wyberba; Yeppoon. Material in AMSA, ANIC, BMNH, BPBM, CLBC, EEAC, GBC, GWC, GHNC, JTC, MMSA, MVMA, NMWC, SAMA, SWC, UQA, WAMA, ZMC.

Diagnosis. General diagnosis: length 6.4–13.6 mm; head, pronotum and elytra green, golden-green, coppery or rarely red-brown; underside darker than the upperside, reddish-purple or blackish-green; head and underside densely clothed with moderately long opaque white pubescence.

Head: very densely to contiguously punctured with rather deep, fairly small round to ovate punctures; moderately densely clothed with moderately long opaque white pubescence; unpunctured areas weakly to strongly microreticulate; clypeal excision very shallow, sometimes scarcely developed, with an unpunctured strongly microreticulate border which is usually much broader in the central part of the excision; clypeal peaks acute to right angled; vertex flat, about half 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 the ♀ the expanded part of the segments are more or less triangular, in the ♂ segment 4 is more or less triangular, 5–10 more or less quadrate

Pronotum: 1.45–1.60 times as wide at base as long in midline; anterior margin strongly bisinuate with a well developed broad median lobe, the unpunctured anterior border narrow, with a poorly defined groove separating it from the rest of the pronotum; posterior margin moderately strongly biarcuate to bisinuate; widest at or slightly in front of mid-length; lateral margins parallel sided or slightly convergent close to the posterior angles, thence weakly divergent to the widest point, (sometimes parallel sided in posterior two-thirds), before strongly curvilinearly converging to the anterior angles; as wide as or slightly narrower at base than elytra at base; lateral carina almost straight or slightly sinuate, about two-thirds complete; punctation in central half moderately dense to dense, consisting mostly of small round punctures, the punctures in the central line often slightly denser and the central line often slightly depressed for part of its length, punctation in lateral half consisting of larger, stronger, very dense to contiguous round punctures; weakly to moderately strongly microreticulate between the punctures and usually with minute pin-prick punctures as well; with fairly short opaque white pubescence confined to the vicinity of the lateral carina.

Scutellum: approximately quadrate, more or less shield-shaped; about one-fifteenth width of elytra at base; weakly to moderately strongly microreticulate.

Elytra: basal margin moderately strongly biarcuate to bisinuate; slightly widening over the humeral callosities, thence almost parallel sided to somewhat beyond the mid-length, before narrowing to the moderately broad rounded apices; lateral margins in apical third to half, and apices weakly, but noticeably serrate; sutural margins weakly raised in the apical quarter to half; moderately densely punctured with small round punctures near the suture becoming progressively larger and denser laterally, often contiguous close to the lateral margin; punctures near the subsutural depression partly arranged in punctured striae, the associated interstriae less regularly punctured and usually slightly costate; weakly microreticulate.

Proepisternum: very densely to contiguously punctured with large shallow ovate setae-bearing punctures, partly obscured by long opaque white setae.

Prosternum: with a well defined narrow bead at the anterior margin, at about the same level as the area behind; prosternal process slightly widening posteriorly, sparsely to moderately densely punctured with small round punctures, usually with a line of partly coalescent punctures close to the lateral margin; sparsely to densely clothed with fairly long opaque white pubescence.

Mesoepisternum: shiny or microreticulate, with numerous large shallow setae-bearing punctures present, partly obscured by the long opaque white setae (Fig. 44).

Apical sternite: with small lunate punctures, mostly well separated, but sometimes touching to form short transverse series; ♂ excision shallow about 2-4 times as wide as deep, ♀ excision narrower about 2 times as wide as deep, the distal margin of the flange straight and the lateral spines short, about as long as the depth of the flange in both sexes.

Tarsal claws: widened at base.

Aedeagus: as in Fig. 186.

Ovipositor: elongate as in Fig. 11.

Comments. This subspecies is characterised by the denser punctation and slight depression of the pronotum in the midline, the slightly costate elytral intervals between the seriate punctation of the inner half of the elytra, the relatively weak elytral microsculpture and the elytral apices being essentially the same colour as the rest of the elytra. Since I had not originally realised this species was divisible into recognisable subspecies, much material identified in the early years of this revision will carry M. propinqua determination labels, without subspecific identity.

Bionomics. Adults have been collected from August–January, but mainly from September to November. Adults commonly collected on Jacksonia scoparia R. Br. (Fabaceae) , Pultenaea spp. (Fabaceae) and Leptospermum spp. (Myrtaceae) with some records from Bossiaea eriocarpa Benth. (Fabaceae) , Daviesia latifolia F.Cels (Fabaceae) , Dillwynia sp. (Fabaceae) , Phyllota phylicoides (Sieber ex DC.) Benth. (Fabaceae) , Baeckea sp. (Myrtaceae) , Pimelea linifolia Sm. (Thymelaeaceae) , Cassinia arcuata R. Br. (Asteraceae) and Gahnia erythrocarpa R. Br. (Cyperaceae) , Adults eat the flower petals of Pultenaea subternata H.B.Will. , Dillwynia retorta (J.C.Wendl.) Druce , and Daviesia virgata A.Cunn. ex Hook. ( Turner, 1984) . Larval host Pultenaea villosa Willd. ( Hawkeswood, 2011) .