Melobasis janae, Levey, 2012, Levey, 2012

Levey, Brian, 2012, 3464, Zootaxa 3464, pp. 1-107 : 42-43

M. janae sp. n

(Figs. 110, 173, 209, 210)

Type locality: Western Australia, Wurarga, Marloo sheep station (28°24'S 116°29'E) .

Type specimens examined. Holotype ♂ ( ANIC), Marloo Stn. Wurarga W.A. 1931–1941 A. Goerling / HOLOTYPE Melobasis janae sp. n. B. Levey det. 24 paratypes as follows: Western Australia: 5♂, 4♀, ( ANIC, NMWC), same data as Holotype; 2♀ ( ZMHB) same data as Holotype but 1938; 1♀, ( MVMA), Kellerberrin, W. Australia/ F.E. Wilson Coll.; 4♂, 1♀, ( IRSNB, NMWC), Merredin, X., W.A., ex coll. C. Deuquet; 1♀, ( GBC), 6 Mls. S.W. of Paynes Find , 11.10.80., G. Burns; 1♀ ( ASC), 2.8 km N of Pinegrove Homestead, WA, -27 45 46.60, 115 39 49.70, 8.ix.2010, on leaves of large Acacia sp. shrub, A. Sundholm, D. Knowles; 1♀, ( WAMA), 51-1794, Wialki; 1♂, 4♀ ( TMSHC), No. 4 pump Merredin R / Melobasis , on broad leaf Acacia, Merredin No. 4 pumping station W.A., 24.9.1940 HWB [on underside of mounting card] .

Diagnosis. General diagnosis: length 8.0–11.0 mm; head and pronotum steel-blue, turquoise-blue or blackishgreen, sometimes pronotum at centre with a violet reflection; elytra bluish-violet or reddish-violet, with the following yellow-green, golden or coppery markings: a sutural vitta in the basal fifth to quarter; a slightly shorter oblique humeral vitta internal to the humeral callosity, which extends laterally along the basal margin and along the lateral margin for a short distance, and is continued along the epipleura to the level of the hind coxa; a slightly sinuate transverse median fascia which extends from the outer edge of the substural depression, almost to the lateral margin; a roughly obovate to slightly transverse pre-apical macula; underside greenish- or brownishbronze; lateral parts of underside moderately densely clothed with moderately long silvery pubescence.

Head: very densely to contiguously punctured with small round and elliptical punctures which sometimes coalesce to form linear series orientated dorso-ventrally on the lower half of the vertex and the frontoclypeus; densely clothed with fairly long silvery pubescence; unpunctured areas shiny to strongly microreticulate; clypeal excision moderately deep, U-shaped, with an unpunctured weakly to strongly microreticulate border which is sometimes only developed at centre; clypeal peaks acute; vertex flat, three fifths 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 expanded part of the segments is quadrate, in ♀ the expanded part of segments 4 and 5 are more or less triangular, segments 6–10 subquadrate.

Pronotum: 1.37–1.50 times as wide at base as long in midline; anterior margin bisinuate, with a shallowly produced broad median lobe, which is sometimes scarcely produced and the margin is almost straight at the centre; anterior beaded margin narrow, but well defined; posterior margin bisinuate; widest at or slightly in front of the mid-length; lateral margins almost parallel for a short distance in front of posterior angles thence very slightly divergent to widest point, sometimes almost as wide at posterior angles as at widest point; moderately strongly curvilinearly convergent from widest point to the anterior angles; almost as wide as or slightly narrower at base than elytra at base; lateral carina slightly sinuate, about half to three-quarters complete; punctation sparse to moderately dense in central fifth, consisting of small round punctures and pin-prick punctures, which become progressively larger and denser towards the lateral margin; usually with at least a partly developed unpunctured midline; shiny or with weak reticulate microsculpture; moderately densely clothed with moderately long silvery pubescence which is confined to the lateral third of the pronotum.

Scutellum: approximately heart shaped to slightly transverse quadrate; shiny or weakly microsculptured; about one-tenth to one-thirteenth width of elytra at base.

Elytra: 2.37–2.72 times as long as wide at the base; basal margin weakly bisinuate; very slightly widening from base over the humeral callosities; just behind the humeral callosity the elytra often become very slightly constricted for a short distance before slightly widening to the mid-length, thence narrowing to the broadly rounded apices; lateral margins from somewhat beyond mid-length and apices with strong acute serrations; sutural margin strongly raised in apical half; each elytron with a slightly developed costa next to the subsutural depression, sometimes with indications of a less well defined costa lateral to the first costa; subsutural depression sparsely punctured with very small round punctures; punctation lateral to the first costate interval consisting of larger denser punctures which become progressively denser, larger and more ovate towards the lateral margin, where they form short transverse series; moderately strongly microreticulate.

Proepisternum: very densely or contiguously punctured with moderately large, shallow round and ovate punctures, partly obscured by moderately long silvery pubescence.

Prosternum: with a narrow bead at the anterior margin, at the same level as the area behind; prosternal process almost parallel sided or slightly widening behind the fore coxae, very sparsely punctured with pin-prick punctures, with a groove formed from coalescent punctures near the lateral margin; glabrous, or with sparse setae near the lateral margin.

Mesoepisternum: very densely to contiguously punctured, with moderately large, shallow, lunate and round punctures; partly obscured by long silvery pubescence.

Apical sternite: with lunate punctures near the lateral margin contiguous, but not forming grooves parallel to the lateral margin; excision about two times as wide as deep in ♂ ( Fig. 209), three to four times as wide as deep in ♀ ( Fig. 210); the lateral spines slightly developed, shorter than the depth of the flange; distal margin of flange straight Tarsal claws: slightly widened at base, but without a basal tooth.

Aedeagus ( Fig. 173): parameres strongly constricted near base and immediately before the apical setae-bearing part.

Ovipositor: short, slightly wider than long.

Comments: This species is very similar in colour, elytral markings and general appearance to M. powelli sp. n., but can be distinguished by the form of the aedeagus, pronotal shape and other more minor differences (see comments under M. powelli ). From M. goerlingi it is most easily distinguished by the form of the aedeagus and the narrower vertex.

Etymology. This species is named after my wife Jan for all her support over the years.

Bionomics. Adults have been collected in September and October. Adults collected from broad leaved Acacia (Fabaceae) . Larval hosts unknown.