Melobasis flavoaenea, Levey, 2012

Levey, Brian, 2012, 3464, Zootaxa 3464, pp. 1-107 : 35-36

M. flavoaenea sp. n.

(Figs. 112, 202)

Type locality: Western Australia, 11 km S. of Billabong Roadhouse (26 o 54 / 51 // S 114 o 39 / 10 // E) .

Type specimens examined. Holotype ♀ ( WAMA), 11 km S. of Billabong Roadhouse, W.A. M. Powell, 11 Sep. 1998. On Acacia ramulosa / HOLOTYPE ♀ Melobasis flavoaenea sp. n. B. Levey 2010. Paratypes as follows: Western Australia: 2♀ ( MPC) 11 km S. of Billabong Roadhouse, W.A., K. Kershaw & M. Powell, 1 Sep. 1995. On Acacia ramulosa .

Description based on female. Male unknown.

Diagnosis. General diagnosis: length 12.9–15.7 mm; head and pronotum blackish-bronze; elytra blue-black with violet reflections, with the following yellow-brown bronze markings: a sutural vitta in the basal quarter; a broad humeral vitta of the same length; a broad median fascia not quite reaching the lateral margin or the suture, closely approaching and sometimes joined to the sutural and humeral vittae; a large broad elongate pre-apical macula sometimes joined to the median fascia; underside brownish-bronze; lateral parts of underside moderately densely clothed with fairly long silvery pubescence.

Head: upper third of vertex densely punctured with fairly large round to ovate punctures; remainder of head very densely punctured with ovate punctures which often coalesce to form linear series orientated dorso-ventrally on the vertex and sometimes also on the frontoclypeus; moderately densely clothed with moderately long silvery pubescence; unpunctured areas weakly microreticulate except on the frontoclypeus which is strongly microreticulate; clypeal excision moderately deep U-shaped, with an unpunctured strongly microreticulate border confined to the central part of the excision; clypeal peaks slightly obtuse to right angled; vertex flat, nearly threequarters width of head across eyes when viewed from above; eyes very weakly convex.

Antenna: serrate from segment 4–10, the segments becoming progressively smaller and slightly less elongate, the expanded portion of each segment more or less triangular.

Pronotum: 1.62–1.70 times as wide at base as long in midline; anterior margin weakly bisinuate, with a rather weakly developed broad median lobe; posterior margin rather strongly bisinuate; almost as wide as or slightly narrower at posterior angles as at mid-length; lateral margins almost parallel or slightly divergent in front of posterior angles to mid-length, then weakly curvilinearly converging to the anterior angles; slightly narrower at base than elytra at base; lateral carina slightly sinuate, about half to three-quarters complete; punctation sparse in central fifth, consisting mainly of pin-prick punctures, which become progressively larger and denser towards the lateral margin; without an unpunctured median line, but with a poorly defined unpunctured transversely ovate area on either side of the midline in the anterior third; shiny; moderately densely clothed with fairly long silvery pubescence in lateral half.

Scutellum: almost quadrate to slightly elongate, about one-eleventh width of elytra at base.

Elytra: 2.10–2.30 times as long as wide at the base; basal margin moderately strongly bisinuate; very slightly widened from the base over the humeral callosities, thence almost parallel sided to the mid-length, before narrowing to the rounded apices; lateral margins from just beyond mid-length and apices with moderately coarse acute serrations; sutural margin slightly raised in apical half; rather uniformly punctured, but with a well defined costate interval lateral to the subsutural depression and traces of one or two others; punctation between suture and first costate interval sparse, consisting of tiny round and pin-prick punctures; lateral to the first costate interval the punctures become larger and dense, to very dense near the lateral margin, where they sometimes form short transverse series; moderately strongly microreticulate.

Proepisternum: contiguously punctured with large, shallow, ovate punctures, partly obscured by dense, long, silvery pubescence.

Prosternum: with a well defined bead at the anterior margin, the anterior margin at almost the same level as the area behind; prosternal process parallel sided or slightly widening distally, sparsely to moderately densely punctured with pin-prick or small round punctures, with a line of larger partly coalescent punctures near the lateral margin; glabrous.

Mesoepisternum: contiguously punctured with large, shallow ovate punctures, partly obscured by long silvery pubescence.

Apical sternite ( Fig. 202): with the lunate punctures coalescent over much of the surface, their rims forming well marked ridges more or less parallel to the lateral margin; excision fairly deep, not much wider than deep; lateral spines only slightly developed; distal margin of flange straight.

Tarsal claws: slightly widened at base, but without a basal tooth.

Ovipositor: slightly longer than wide.

Comments: This species is distinctive by virtue of its elytral colour pattern. However if specimens were found in which the elytral markings became fused and enlarged they would resemble those of some specimens of M. caudata Carter. However the latter species differs in the form of the excision of the apical sternite of the female (much wider than deep) and the lack of enlarged partly coalescent punctures close to the lateral edge of the prosternal process.

Etymology. The name comes from the yellow bronze markings on the elytra.

Bionomics. Adults collected in September from Acacia ramulosa W. Fitzg. (Fabaceae) . Larval hosts unknown.