Macrolema ventralis (Lea)

Reid, C. A. M. & Beatson, M., 2010, 2486, Zootaxa 2486, pp. 1-60 : 26-27

Macrolema ventralis (Lea)

( Figs 14, 30, 36, 56, 64, 77, 91, 109, 124, 133)

Macrogonus ventralis Lea 1921b: 361

Macrolema ventralis: Reid 2000: 862

Material examined

Types: Holotype: male: / ventralis Lea Type Comboyne/ 18039 Macrogonus ventralis Lea N. S. Wales type/ [ SAM].

Non-types : New South Wales : female: / vic Jeep trail, Banda Banda Loop Trail , Banda Banda Beech Resort [sic = Reserve], Mt Boss SF, 14 Jan 1988, G & B Williams, ex rainforest foliage/ [ ANIC]; male: / Dorrigo Nat Pk, 11.xi.1961, C. W. Frazier / ANIC Uni of New England coll. donated 1983/ [ ANIC]; female: / Dorrigo Nat Pk, NSW , Nov 1982, M. Lowman, rainforest/ No 61/ [ ANIC]; male, 2 females: / Dorrigo NSW W. Heron / [ ANIC]; male: / Dorrigo / [ SAM]; female: / Mt Allyn , Barrington Tops via Salisbury , 8.i.1967, N. S. W., G. Monteith / [ UQB]; male, female: / Mt Moombil, Dorrigo NP , 30:19S 152:51E, GPS #215 , 56 J0486554-6643990, 1030m, 15.xi.2005, J. Jurado / [ AMS]; female: / New England NP Robinsons Knob firetrail, 30:30S 152:23E, GPS#224 , 56 J0441352-6625338, 1335m, 18.xi.2005, J. Jurado / [ AMS]; male: New England NP NSW Nov 1980 M. Lowman / ex leaves Nothofagus moorei / [ ANIC]; 2 males: / Pt Lookout via Ebor NSW Nothofagus forest 4500’ 22.i.1967 B. Cantrell / [ UQB]; male, female: / c. 90km NW Wauchope [ Mount Banda Banda ] NSW 18 Nov 1987 G. Williams ex rainforest margin/ [ ANIC] .

Description

Length: males 8–9mm, females 9–11mm; body relatively elongate, weakly convex in profile, length c.3.4x height. Body and appendages brownish-yellow, except (i) apices of mandibles, apical palpomeres, head from between antennae to behind eyes (rarely absent), midline and lateral margins pronotum (usually connecting anteriorly; rarely absent, rarely almost entire dorsal surface), scutellum, elytra, apices femora, outer faces fore and middle tibiae, apical third or less of hind tibiae, tarsi, apical third or more of male ventrite I, apical margin female ventrite I, ventrites II– V (apical margins often pale), dark brown to black, with metallic green reflection (elytra and tarsi rarely blue or purple); (ii) antennomeres black with purplish-blue reflection, or antennomere 1 dark green, remainder purplish-blue.

Head ( Figs 14, 30, 36): head puncturation variable but strong and moderately close throughout dorsal surface, dense on frontoclypeus; patch of setae present, dorsal to antennae, shallowly to deeply depressed between eyes, with or without groove on midline of vertex; eyes separated by c.3x eye widths (male) or c.4x eye widths (female); gena short, c.0.2x eye length (male), or c.0.3x eye length (female); antennae 5–6x socket diameters apart; antennae c. 0.85x body length (male), or c. 0.70–0.75x body length (female); all antennomeres elongate: 2 shortest (c.0.6x first), <1=3, <4=6=8=9=10, <5=7=11 (both sexes); labrum not densely setose, with 2–3 pairs of prominent setae; apical maxillary palpomere elongate, almost cylindrical in male, more fusiform in female, preapical palpomere as long as apical.

Thorax ( Figs 14, 56): pronotum closely and strongly punctured throughout, but slightly more diffusely and finely on anterior half of disc, shining, with scattered distinct micropunctures between macropunctures and scattered fine pubescence at sides (often worn off); pronotal width 1.3x length (male) or 1.4x length (female), with shallowly convex lateral margins; pronotal disc with or without shallow lateral depressions, with shallow transverse basal depression; anterior margination complete; hypomeron at least partly punctate; prosternal process narrow and strongly arched from base to truncate apex; scutellum impunctate, elongatetriangular with blunt apex; elytron with scattered fine pubescence, most conspicuous around humerus and at apex (often worn off or matted to surface); elytron with 2–3 irregularly shaped distinct depressions on basal half of disc, one on striae 4–5, and 2 on striae 6–9; elytral punctures fine and shallow in basal half, finer towards apex; elytra partly striate, with striae 1–4 regular and 5–9 partially irregular and partly obliterated by elytral depressions, but striae also obscured by similar sized interstrial punctures, especially towards sides and apex; 1–2 deep irregular depressions along basal half of elytron adjacent to epipleuron; upper margin epipleuron reaching base of elytron, but not continued on basal edge; mesoventrite median process strongly arched to truncate apex; metaventrite shining and sparsely and minutely punctured, anterior with complete margination, margin raised at middle as a lobe slotting into cavity in apex of mesoventrite process, and without median depression, edge not pitted lateral to middle; metepisternum shallowly microreticulate, punctured; without short spur on protibia, 2 on remainder: spur formula 0+2+2.

Abdomen ( Figs 64, 77, 91, 109, 124): ventrites I and II entirely fused; male ventrites shining, not microreticulate, closely and strongly punctured and slightly wrinkled at sides, smooth and impunctate at middle, setae on I–IV short and recumbent at sides, semierect beside broadly glabrous midline, not in distinct transverse bands; female ventrites as male but more closely punctured and wrinkled, and midline often with scattered punctures and short recumbent setae; ventrite I laterally keeled along basal 1/3–2/3, other ventrites without keels; apex ventrite V narrowly truncate in both sexes; sternite VIII of male Y-shaped; apex penis narrowly truncate in dorsal view, tip sharp and strongly curved in lateral view; female sternite VIII with elongate parallel-sided basal apodeme; gonocoxite distinctly setose; spermatheca hook-shaped, duct not tightly coiled.

Notes

Lea (1921b: 361) erroneously described the holotype as female and surprisingly placed the species in Macrogonus , although it lacked the definitive lateral pronotal tubercles. This was based on similarity of the ‘female’ M. ventralis with the ‘female’ Macrogonus bifoveicollis , a misidentification of Macrolema longicornis Jacoby (see above). This confusing situation is rendered obsolete by the synonymy of Macrolema and Macrogonus .

Macrolema ventralis is a relatively common species of Barrington Tops, Mount Banda Banda and the Dorrigo plateau, New South Wales, at high elevation (1000–1300 metres) and is the southernmost species of Macrolema (Fig. 133). The 17 specimens were collected in November and January. Three specimens are covered in lepidopteran scales and were probably collected in light traps. This species has been collected on Nothofagus leaves, but although Nothofagus moorei occurs at all of the localities, there is no evidence of feeding on this plant.