Melobasis kanguluorum, Levey, 2012

Levey, Brian, 2012, 3464, Zootaxa 3464, pp. 1-107 : 19-20

M. kanguluorum sp. n.

(Fig. 70, 93, 146)

Type locality: Edungalba , Queensland (23° 43'S. 149° 51' E.) .

Type specimen examined. Holotype ♀ ( ANIC) Queensland: Edungalba 15.2.69. On Brigalow. S. Adams.

Diagnosis. This description is based on the female. Male unknown.

General diagnosis: length 5.7 mm. Head green; pronotum green in lateral half and along the anterior margin, purple-brown at centre with indications of a very narrow green midline; scutellum green; elytra purple, with a broad green lateral vitta extending from the base to the apical quarter; underside green.

Head: densely punctured with small, fairly deep round punctures, which become contiguous on the frontoclypeus, and smaller and transversely elliptical on the upper part of the vertex; glabrous; strongly microreticulate, becoming very strongly microreticulate on the upper part of the vertex; clypeal excision shallow, U-shaped, with a complete, narrow, unpunctured border; clypeal peaks obtusely angled; vertex strongly convex, more than half width of head across eyes when viewed from above; eyes moderately convex.

Antenna: serrate from segment 4–10, the segments becoming progressively smaller and less elongate; the expanded part of segment 4 triangular, that of segment 5–10 quadrate.

Pronotum: 1.39 times as wide at base as long in midline; anterior margin moderately strongly bisinuate, with a well developed broad median lobe; posterior margin strongly biarcuate; widest at the mid-length; lateral margins strongly almost rectilinearly diverging to widest point from posterior angles, then strongly almost rectilinearly converging to the anterior angles; slightly narrower at base than elytra at base; lateral carina curved, slightly more than half complete; punctation dense to very dense except for the midline which is narrowly unpunctured in the posterior third; punctures small, strong, transverse in the central half becoming more or less round or ovate laterally; strongly microreticulate.

Scutellum: slightly transverse, shield-shaped, about one-ninth width of elytra at base; weakly microreticulate.

Elytra: basal margin moderately strongly biarcuate; slightly widening over the humeral callosities; parallel sided from the humeral callosities to the mid-length, before narrowing to the broadly rounded apices; lateral margins from mid-length and apices with fine acute serrations, those at the apices being slightly smaller; sutural margins moderately strongly raised in apical half; without punctured striae or costae; punctation of the subsutural depression consisting of tiny round widely spaced punctures, which become progressively larger denser and more transversely lunate laterally, becoming contiguous and forming transverse series in the lateral half; weakly microreticulate.

Proepisternum: very densely punctured, with large, very shallow, round punctures; the bottom of the punctures microreticulate; pubescence absent.

Prosternum: without a bead at the anterior margin, the anterior margin at the same level as the area behind; prosternal process almost parallel sided, moderately densely punctured with small, strong round punctures, with a line of partly coalescent punctures close to the unpunctured lateral margin, glabrous (Fig. 70).

Mesoepisternum: microreticulate with a few large shallow setae-bearing punctures, and small round punctures.

Apical sternite ( Fig. 146): with the lunate punctures close to lateral margin coalescent, their rims forming ridges more or less parallel to the lateral margin near base, but strongly turning in towards the midline near the apex, the most lateral line of coalescent punctures forming a slightly serrate ridge parallel to the lateral margin; excision fairly shallow, wider than deep, the distal margin of the flange straight, the spines short, parallel, shorter than the depth of the flange.

Tarsal claws: slightly cleft with a very broad basal tooth.

Ovipositor: about as long as wide.

Comments. This very distinctive species is unlikely to be confused with any other.

Etymology. This species is named after the aboriginal Kangulu people who inhabited the area encompassing the type locality.

Bionomics. Adult collected in February on Brigalow, Acacia harpophylla F.Muell. ex Benth. (Fabaceae) . Larval hosts unknown.