Burnsiellus lobatum, Levey, B. & Bellamy, C. L., 2013

Levey, B. & Bellamy, C. L., 2013, A taxonomic revision of Neobuprestis Kerremans (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) with the description of a new genus and two new species, Zootaxa 3681 (3), pp. 225-240 : 238-239

Burnsiellus lobatum sp. n.

( Figs. 8, 11, 17, 19, 20 , 29, 31 )

Material examined: Holotype 3 ( BMNH) Austr. Melbn.[Melbourne] 53 55// HOLOTYPE Burnsiellus lobatum sp. n. B. Levey det. 1992. [The specimen came to the BMNH in 1853 amongst some material from Mr Baly. This was probably J. Baly who described many Australian Chrysomelidae in the Transactions of the Entomological Society in1855, and presumably acquired the specimen from one of his contacts in Australia].

Diagnosis. General diagnosis: length 14.1 mm (from anterior margin of pronotum to apex of elytra); head, pronotum and elytra predominantly blue-black, the more densely punctured setose areas of elytra coppery and emerald green; underside predominantly blue-black, abdomen with reddish violet reflections; the lobate central part of the distal margin of the second abdominal ventrite brownish yellow, transparent, lightly chitinised; head, pronotum and underside sparsely clothed with moderately long adpressed silvery setae; elytra appearing glabrous but the more densely punctured areas moderately densely clothed with very short inconspicuous adpressed setae.

Head ( Fig. 17 ): very densely punctate reticulate, the punctures moderately deep round to ovate; frons with a well defined central carina; unpunctured areas shiny; lower two-thirds sparsely clothed with moderately long, curved silvery setae; distal margin of fronto-clypeus with a broad shallow V shaped excision bordered by obtusely angulate peaks, area just basal to the distal margin broadly, shallowly depressed; vertex about one-third width of head across eyes when viewed from above; eyes moderately convex, inner margins strongly convergent dorsally, the margins regularly curved.

Antennae ( Fig. 19 ): short, when extended backwards not reaching beyond mid-length of pronotum; antennomere 1 strongly bent at basal third, the basal third brownish yellow, distal two-thirds blackish green about 2½ times length of 2; 3 & 4 missing, 5 & 6 longer than wide, subserrate; 7–8 progressively shorter triangularly serrate, 9–11 wider than long, subserrate.

Pronotum ( Fig. 8): 1.48 times as wide at base as long in midline; anterior margin very weakly bisinuate, with a very poorly developed median lobe, without a groove or bead along the margin; posterior margin weakly curved on either side of a broad well developed median lobe; lateral margins subparallel, weakly convergent to anterior and posterior angles; posterior angles slightly obtuse; disc with a broad longitudinal, densely punctured depression, bordered on either side by a broad longitudinal, sparsely punctured callosity; lateral half densely punctured with a well marked, more sparsely punctured callosity anterior to the basal angle; punctures moderately deep, round, with associated moderately long, adpressed silvery setae; lateral carina not visible from above, slightly curved, extending just over half distance from basal angle towards anterior margin.

Scutellum: small, convex, approximately shield shaped, about one-twentieth width of elytra at base.

Elytra ( Figs. 8, 29 ): much wider than pronotum; basal margin biarcuate; strongly widening over the humeral callosities, thence parallel sided for a short distance, before sinuately widening to mid-length, then narrowing to the very broad obliquely truncate, irregularly, minutely serrate apices; sutural margins costate for entire length; each elytron with a short scutellary costa which fuses with the sutural costa at the basal quarter, and four long equidistant costae which anastomose near the apex; costae unpunctured, the area between the costae irregularly, densely rugose-punctate, glabrous; with areas of much smaller punctures bearing very short adpressed setae.

Hypomeron: very densely to contiguously rugose-punctate, with sparse moderately long adpressed silvery setae.

Prosternum: densely punctate at centre, very densely transversely rugose-punctate laterally, with dense moderately long adpressed silvery setae laterally; anterior margin with a poorly defined broad flat bead; prosternal process densely punctured, trilobate, with lateral margins curved and apical lobe broad at tip.

Mesoepisternum: very densely punctured with large shallow setae-bearing punctures.

Mesosternum, mesoepimeron and metasternum contiguously punctate-reticulate with sparse moderately long adpressed silvery setae.

Abdomen ( Fig. 11): ventrites moderately densely punctured with shallow punctures at centre, densely to very densely punctured laterally, moderately densely clothed with moderately long adpressed silvery setae; distal margin of second ventrite broadly produced in a semi-transparent lightly chitinised brownish yellow curved lobe at centre, which broadly overlaps the third ventrite; apical ventrite broadly, shallowly excised with a well developed flange in the excision, bordered laterally by well developed spines.

Aedeagus ( Fig. 24 ): lateral margins of parameres subparallel; median lobe acutely produced at apex.

Comments. The unusual development of the distal margin of the second abdominal ventrite might justify placement of this species in a separate subgenus or even a separate genus. We have refrained from this action since the female is unknown and this character might be merely an unusual secondary sexual character of the male, although similar lobes on the 2nd (sometimes also on 3rd and 4th ventrites occurs in some species of Polycesta Dejean 1833 , Paratyndaris Fisher 1919 and Sponsor Gory & Laporte 1839 , where they are not confined to one sex (M.Volkovitsh pers. comm.).

Figures

FIGURES 14 – 20. 14. head & pronotum N. williamsi sp. n. (paratype, Barrington Tops, New South Wales); 15 – 17 head: 15. N. williamsi sp. n. (paratype, Barrington Tops, New South Wales); 16. N. peroni (Gory & Laporte) Ƥ (no locality); 17. B. lobatum sp. n. (holotype); 18. antenna 3 N. peroni (Gory & Laporte) (Birchip, Victoria); 19. apical 7 antennomeres of B. lobatum sp. n. (holotype); 20. tarsal segments of B. lobatum sp. n. (holotype).

FIGURES 26 – 31. 26. habitus drawing of B. trisulcata (Carter); 27. mid tibia of male B. trisulcata (Carter); 28 – 29 left elytral apex: 28. B. trisulcata (Carter); 29. B. lobatum sp. n.; 30 – 31. right metacoxal plate: 30. B. marmorata (Blackburn); 31. B. lobatum sp. n.

FIGURES 21 – 25. 21 – 22. apical abdominal ventrite: 21. N. peroni (Gory & Laporte) 3 (Birchip, Victoria); 22. N. williamsi sp. n. Ƥ (paratype, 60 km E. N. E. Gloucester); 23. wing of B. lobatum sp. n. (holotype); 24. aedeagus of B. lobatum sp. n. (holotype); 25. aedeagus of N. peroni (Gory & Laporte) 3 (Birchip, Victoria).