Morbora australis DISTANT 1899

Gerry Cassis & Loren Vanags, 2006, Jewel Bugs of Australia (Insecta, Heteroptera, Scutelleridae), Denisia 19, pp. 275-398 : 323-327

Morbora australis DISTANT 1899 ( Figs 11a , 13a-c, 15, Table 5 )

Morbora australis DISTANT 1899: 47 (n.sp.); SCHOUTEDEN 1904 a: 87, pl. 5 fig. 10 (list; habitus); GROSS 1975: 90, fig. 21 (description; habitus); MCDONALD & CASSIS 1984: 548 (description; genitalia); CASSIS & GROSS 2002: 586 (catalogue; localities); MOIR et al. 2003: 353 (Western Australian record)

Diagnosis: Morbora australis is recognised by the following combination of characters: scutellum with clove-shaped and short fan-shaped setae (Figs 13a-c); AI longest segment; exocorium not expanded ( Fig. 11a ); CAI branched, lobe-like; CAII elongate, sickle-shaped; and, CAIII absent.

Description: Body small, males 5.37 mm, females 5.27-5.73.

Colouration. Dorsum yellowish-brown to dark brown, with contrasting markings, broad W-shaped yellow marking on posteri-or 1/2 of scutellum ( Fig. 11a ).

Vestiture. Head and pronotum with dense distribution of erect, elongate, clove-shaped setigerous punctures, intermixed with curly sericeous setae (Figs 13a-c); scutellum with dense distribution of short, fan-shaped setae, relatively narrow distally.

Structure. Antennae: AI longest segment, little longer than AIV. Labium: LI longest segment, LII & LIII roughly subequal, LIV shortest segment. Pronotum: lateral margins moderately expanded; anterolateral angles not surpassing anterior margin of eyes. Hemelytra: costal margins not greatly expanded laterally. Male Genitalia: CAI branched, membraneous, lobe-like, without sclerotization; CAII elongate, sickle-shaped, heavily sclerotized; CAIII absent; vesica heavily sclerotized, distally tapered.

Measurements. Table 5 .

Type material examined: Holotype, 1♂, Peak Downs , B.M. Hem. Type No. 613, ‘ Morbora australis DIST type’, ‘Dist. Coll. 1911-383’ ( BMNH) . Material examined: Queensland: 3♀♀, Walkers Creek campsite, 17°28’S 141°10’E, 28 July 1995, J Thompson, FN 997 ( AM) ; 1♀, Carnarvon Range, March 1944, N Geary ( AM) ; 1♂ 1♀, Clermont , viii-1929 KK Spence ( AM) ; 1♀, Bluff Range, near Biggenden, 21-iii-1975, H Frauca ( ANIC) ; 1♀, Luster Creek, 8 km W by N Mt Molloy, 21-22 May 1980, ID Naumann ( ANIC) ; New South Wales: 1♂ 1♀, Bundjalong National Park , 32°24’S 152°32’E, G Cassis, 15 November 1993, ex beach wash ( AM) ; 2♀♀, 30°04’41“S 148°56’53“E, I Oliver, February 2001, DLWC WALCOL00286 and WALCOL00498 ( AM) ; 1♀, Road Reserve , 30°11’42“S 148°54’54“E, I Oliver, February 2001, DLWC WALCOL00149 ( AM) ; 2♀♀, Yelta , 30°27’14“S 148°41’42“E, I Oliver, February 2001, DLWC WALCOL00025 and WALCOL00065, ex pitfall trap ( AM) ; 1♀, Wentworth, May 1965, MJ Coulson ( ANIC) ; Australian Capital Territory: 1♀, Black Mountain , 35°16’S 149°06’E, 600 m, March 1987, TA Weir, JF Lawrence & W Dressler, ex flight intercept trap ( ANIC) ; Southern Australia: 1♀, Maree-Lyndhurst Road , J Upton, 15-ix-1972 ( ANIC) ; Western Australia: 1♀, Kimberley District, Emma Gorge Resort , 4.5 km N Gibb River Road, 15°54’40“S 128°07’29“E, 4-13 June 1999, MR Gray, G Milledge & H Smith, pitfall trap, ex savanah woodland FN 14481 ( AM).

Distribution: Morbora australis is widely distributed in Australia, mostly from arid or semi-arid habitats. It is presently recorded from Queensland, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia and the Northern Territory ( Fig. 15 ). MOIR et al. (2003) reported this species from Western Australia. The Kimberley district record report-ed in this work confirms the western distribution of M. australis .

Host plant records and habitats: Morbora australis has been collected primarily in pitfall traps or flight intercept traps, suggesting it is epigaeic in its habits. The specimens collected at Bundjalong National Park (NSW) were collected on beach wash, after a violent thunderstorm at sea. Nothing is known of its food-preferences.

Remarks: DISTANT (1899) first described this species from Peak Downs in southeast Queensland. GROSS (1975) redescribed it from a range of collections across eastern Australia, and South Australian and the Northern Territory. He distinguished it from M. hirtula , on the basis of its paler colouration (and contrasting dorsal colour patterning) and different vestiture (cf. Figs 13a-i). MCDONALD & CASSIS (1984) redescribed this species, and provided the first description (and illustration) of the male and female genitalia. They found that the aedeagus has only two conjunctival appendages (CAIII absent), which conclusively differentiates it from M. hirtula . CASSIS & GROSS (2002), in cataloguing this species, provided additional distributional information. Our observations do not support the colour distinction as mentioned above; we found that M. australis varies from yellow-brown to dark brown, even within the same population. It is best determined by the distribution of short fan-like setae (Fig. 13c) particularly on the lateral margins of the pronotum and across the scutellum. Some specimens also possess clove-shaped setae, as in M. hirtula , but the latter species always lacks the fan-shaped setae.

Figures

Fig. 11: Habitus of Morbora species (a) M. australis (b) M. hirtula (c) M. schoutedeni. Scale bars = 1 mm.

Fig. 15: Distribution of Morbora species.