Calliphara nobilis (LINNAEUS 1763)

Gerry Cassis & Loren Vanags, 2006, Jewel Bugs of Australia (Insecta, Heteroptera, Scutelleridae), Denisia 19, pp. 275-398 : 342-343

Calliphara nobilis (LINNAEUS 1763) ( Figs 19c , 21c ) Revised Australian Record

Cimex nobilis LINNAEUS 1763: 17 (n.sp.); STÅL 1866: 153 (description) Cimex pustulatus PANZER 1798: 111 (n.sp.; junior homonym); LYAL 1979: 172 (synonymy) Scutellera buquetti GUÉRIN-MÉNEVILLE 1838: 159 , 162 (n.sp.); LYAL 1979: 172 (synonymy) Callidea nobilis : GERMAR 1839: 117 (new combination); DALLAS 1851: 25 (list); WALKER 1867: 32 (list); STÅL 1873: 17 (list); ATKINSON 1887: 165 (list); TRYON 1892: 14 (New Guinea); LETHIERRY & SEVERIN 1893: 24 (catalogue); DISTANT 1902: 53, fig. 23 (description); SCHOUTEDEN 1904: 32 (list); KIRKALDY 1909: 298 (catalogue); TAKARA 1957 (host plant); BALOCH, MOHYUDDIN & GHANI 1968 (host plant); HILGENDORF & GOEDEN 1982 (host plant); TOMOKUNI et al. 1993: 218, pl. 89 (description; colour photos); KOHNO 2006: 67 (biology; host plants) CallipHara buquetti : STÅL 1866: 153 (new combination)

Diagnosis: CallipHara nobilis is recognised by the following characters: dorsum iridescent green; callosite region mostly black ( Fig. 19c ); pronotal black with 8 black spots ( Fig. 19c ); scutellum with six spots ( Fig. 19c ); femora orange; abdominal venter mostly orange, with broad sublateral green iridescent band ( Fig. 21c ); eyes large ( Fig. 19c ); lateral margins of abdominal sterna densely punctate ( Fig. 21c ); posterolateral angles of abdominal sterna without spines ( Fig. 21c ); CAII(M) with U-shaped lobal sclerite CAIII divided; and, vesica short.

Description: Body moderately large, male 13 mm.

Colouration. Body mostly green to copper-green, with patterned black spots on pronotum (4 spots medially, plus subtriangular burnt-orange calli) and scutellum (7 spots) ( Fig. 19c ). Antennae: uniformly fuscous. Pronotum black, tip of scutellum, hemelytral margins, appendages, connexiva, and male and female terminalia black to bluish-black, sometimes with a green tinge. Scutellum: mostly burnt orange; thoracic pleura bicoloured, ventrally orange, laterally with greenish iridescence; Legs: coxae, trochanters and proximal 4/5 of femora burnt-orange to red; remainder of legs fuscous to bluish-fuscous. Abdominal Venter: mostly orange, with broad sublateral green iridescence, with embrowned margins ( Fig. 21c ); terminalia embrowned; ventral surface of pygophore iridescent copper-brown, basally iridescent green ( Fig. 21c ).

Texture. Body densely punctate, with shallow punctures.

Vestiture. Abdominal venter with moderate distribution of pale, simple setae.

Structure. Eyes: large, about 1/2 length of Head. Antennae: AII(a) a little longer than AI. Labium: reaching between middle and apex of metacoxae. Male Genitalia: ventral margin of male pygophore deeply emarginate; genital opening of pygophore with dorsal and ventral patches of setae; vesica short, with arcuate dorsal process; CAII bifurcate, CAII(M) mostly membraneous with U-shaped lobal sclerite, CAII(L) elongate, digitiform, sclerotized, distally recurved; CAIII bifurcate, CAIII(D) branch elongate, digitiform, sclerotized; CAIII(V) short, mostly membraneous, lobate. Abdominal Venter: posterior angles of female abdominal SVI-VII with minute acuminate spines; male posterior angles of abdominal sterna bare ( Fig. 21c ). Female Terminalia: paratergites VIII large, concave and triangular; paratergites IX smaller, convex and club-shaped, fused medially to the tenth sternum; and gonocoxae I large, subtriangular, flap-like.

Measurements. BL: 12.89, PW: 8.25, IOD: 1.98, AI: 0.64, AII(a): 1.04, AII(b) 4.54, AIII: 5.24, AIV: 5.46, LI: 3.61, LII: 3.95, LIII: 3.46, LIV: 2.77.

Specimens examined: Australia: 1♂, Northern Territory, 7 km ESE Smith Point, 11°09’S132°11’E, Cobourg Peninsula , 23 January 1977, ED Edwards ( ANIC) ; Indonesia: 5♂♂ 1♀, Sumatra, Dolok Merangir, EW Diehl ( AMNH) ; 2♀♀, East Borneo, Saminedia , Sternitzky coll. ( AMNH) ; 1♂, Sumatra, Stabat, 60 km NW of Medan, 30 m, 23-vi-1974, EW Diehl ( AMNH) ; Philippines: 4♂♂ 3♀♀, Mindanao, Calapan , P de Mesa ( AMNH) .

Distribution: This species is broadly distributed in southeast Asia from China (in-cluding Taiwan) and Burma in the north, and through the Indo-Malaysian peninsula, as well as the Philippines and New Guinea. KIRKALDY (1909) tentatively recorded C. nobilis from Australia (Tropical Queensland?), LYAL (1979) explicitly excluded it. The specimen from the Northern Territory ( Fig. 23 ) is the first precise Australia record.

Host plants and biology: There was no host plant record for the Northern Territory specimen listed above. There are five host plants recorded for this species from outside of Australia ( Table 1 ).

Remarks: In LYAL’ s (1979) classification, C. nobilis belongs to the CallipHara excellens species group, the latter established primarily on the condition of the conjunctival appendages. This species group comprises seven species, including two Australian species ( C. imperialis and C. regalis ) additional to C. nobilis , as well as three species from Indonesia, C. lanceolata , C. regia and C. excellens , with the last also occurring in the Philippines. The relationships of these taxa have not been analysed, although, C. nobilis shares numerous similarities in the male genitalia with C. regalis , including a short vesica, simple ejaculatory apparatus, and very similar conjunctival appendages. They are easily separated externally by colouration patterns alone (cf. Figs 19 a-d).

Figures

Fig. 19: Habitus of Australian Calliphara species (a) Calliphara dimidiata cruenta, Oi (b) Calliphara imperialis, Oi (c) Calliphara nobilis, Oi (d) Calliphara regalis, Oi. Scale bar = 1 mm.

Fig. 21: Colouration of Abdominal Venter in Australian Scutellerinae (a) Calliphara dimidiata cruenta (b) Calliphara imperialis (c) Calliphara nobilis (d) Calliscyta stalii (e) Cantao parentum (f) Lampromicra aerea (g) Lampromicra regia (h) Lampromicra senator (i) Scutiphora pedicellata.

Fig. 23: Distribution of Australian Calliphara species.