Hypolepida braes Allsopp, 2020

Allsopp, Peter G., 2020, Australian Melolonthini (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae): a second species of Hypolepida Britton, 1978, Zootaxa 4742 (3), pp. 595-600 : 598-599

Hypolepida braes Allsopp , new species

( Figs. 6–10 )

Type. Holotype male: AUSTRALIA: QUEENSLAND: Black Braes [Blackbraes] N.P. [National Park]: Black Braes Homestead , 800 m, hand net, xi.2001, D. Yeates, C. Lambkin, N. Starick & J. Hamilton, GPS 19°32’17”S, 144°12’16”E / 15 Nov 2001, on wing early morning; in ANIC.

Description of holotype ( Figs 7–10 ). Body 12 mm long; head, pronotum, scutellum and ventral thorax black, elytra very dark brown ( Fig. 7 ), abdominal ventrites dark reddish brown with posterior half of penultimate ventrite and last ventrite almost black; antennae brown, palpi reddish brown, legs dark brown to black. Labrum with sides almost straight, with a wide, deep median indentation, not protruding beyond anterior margin of upper clypeus, with a few scattered short setae. Terminal maxillary palpomere slender, about as long as palpomeres 1–2 together, with dull area on upper surface. Anterior face of clypeus shallow, 6 times as wide as long, with scattered setiferous punctures except on smooth median area; outline of upper surface broadly rounded, without an emargination but reflexed on anterior, surface coarsely punctate, with a few white setae slightly longer than puncture diameter. Frons with punctures and setae similar to clypeus. Antennal club 6-lamellate but lamella of antennomere 5 0.4 times length of other lamellae and with apex triangular, antennomere 4 with short, flattened disc ( Fig. 8 ). Pronotal length 2.2 times width, sides obtusely angled in middle, anterior and posterior angles obtuse and slightly rounded, anterior and posterior margins narrowly raised and defined by grooves continuous from side to side, posterior with widely rounded lobe and a few long setae especially on lateral thirds, lateral margin with raised, erose margin with a long seta in each notch; anterior edge of pronotum with a few long setae near lateral angles; surface with round punctures, each containing a short, white seta contained within its puncture; pronotal hypopleura with long, pale yellow setae. Scutellum with a few punctures similar to those on pronotum, margin with a groove. Elytra with sutural stria impressed, other odd-numbered striae weakly defined, surface fairly uniformly punctured, punctures smaller than those on pronotum and each containing a small, pale seta longer and thinner than on pronotum; lateral margins with a fringe of longer, stout, brown setae. Pygidium uniformly clothed with recumbent, parallel-sided, flattened, white setae, punctures strongly impressed. Ventral thorax with dense, long, pale yellow setae. Legs with scattered pale yellow setae and a few flattened, white setae. Abdominal ventrites with dense, flattened, white setae laterally, absent from wide area across middle but replaced by a few longer, thinner setae, last ventrite with longer, brown setae on poster margin. Aedeagus ( Figs. 9–10 ) tapering to half-rounded apices, with strong lateral ridges and central keel where the two parameres meet.

Female. Unknown.

Etymology. The specific name is a noun in apposition. It is derived from the name of the type locality and is a Lowland Scot word for a hillside. It also links to George Wilson, noted in the Australian sugarcane industry for his broad Scottish accent, and who is commemorated in the other species of the genus.

Distribution. Known only from the type locality in dry-tropical open forest in the southern Einasleigh Uplands west of Townsville ( Fig. 6 ).

Natural history. Adult males were flying during November early in the morning after rain the previous evening, but only one was collected (C. Lambkin, personal communication).

Figures

FIGURE 6. Distribution of Hypolepida species: blue triangle, H. wilsoni Britton, 1978; red star, H. braes Allsopp, new species.

FIGURES 7–10. Hypolepida braes Allsopp, new species, holotype. 7, Dorsum of male; 8, antennal club of male; 9, parameres, dorsal view; 10, parameres, lateral view.