Melobasis purpurilata, Levey, 2012

Levey, Brian, 2012, 3464, Zootaxa 3464, pp. 1-107 : 50-51

M. purpurilata sp. n.

(Figs. 118, 184, 216).

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. 22 paratypes as follows: Western Australia: 11♀, ( ANIC, NMWC), same data as Holotype; 1 unsexed ( GBC), Bonnie Rock, 4.10.80, G. Burns; 2♀, ( IRSNB), Burracoppin, ix.3., ex. coll. Deuquet; 1♂, ( SAMA), 10 m. E. Elachbutting, Wialki district, Acacia , 20.ix.70., S. Barker; 1♂, 2♀ ( ASC), 1.1 km W of Hines Hill, WA, -31 32 17.00, 118 03 40.00, 25.ix.2009, on leaves of thin-leaved Acacia sp. , A. Sundholm, D. Knowles, M. Powell; 2 ♀, ( WAMA), Southern Cross, du Boulay Coll.; 1♂, 1♀ ( TMSHC), 14km. W of Pindar, W.A., T.M.S. Hanlon, 2 September 2006, on Acacia leaves; 3♀ ( TMSHC), Monger’s Lake , 43 km E of Perenjori W.A., M. Hanlon, 9 Nov.2008, dead in strand line.

Diagnosis. General diagnosis: length 10.5–14.3 mm; upper part of vertex greenish- or brownish-bronze, lower part of vertex and frontoclypeus reddish-violet to blackish-lilac; pronotum in central half brownish- or greenishbronze usually with a narrow blue or blue-green median band, lateral half reddish-violet to blackish-lilac, the junction between the central and lateral blocks of colour often blue or blue-green like the median band; elytra olive or greenish-bronze, the apices sometimes slightly suffused with a coppery tint; underside moderately densely clothed with fairly long silvery pubescence, except for the middle of the prosternum, prosternal process and middle of the metasternum, and sometimes the middle of the sternites, which are glabrous or sparsely pubescent.

Head: densely punctured with rather deep, fairly large round to ovate punctures which coalesce to form linear series orientated dorso-ventrally on the lower half of the vertex and the frontoclypeus; densely clothed with long silvery pubescence; unpunctured areas weakly to strongly microreticulate; clypeal excision very shallow, Ushaped, with an unpunctured weakly to strongly microreticulate border which is sometimes only developed at centre; clypeal peaks acute to right angled; vertex flat, slightly more than half the width of head across eyes when viewed from above; eyes strongly to very 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 sometimes 5 is more or less triangular, segments 6–10 more or less quadrate.

Pronotum: 1.52–1.71 times as wide at base as long in midline; anterior margin bisinuate, usually with a well developed broad median lobe, but sometimes the lobe is scarcely produced and the margin is almost straight at the centre; anterior beaded margin fairly wide, especially at the centre; posterior margin bisinuate; widest at posterior angles; lateral margins usually slightly convergent for a short distance in front of posterior angles, before diverging weakly to beyond mid-length, thence slightly curvilinearly converging to the anterior angles; sometimes parallel sided for a short distance in front of posterior angles before diverging weakly to beyond mid-length; as wide as or very slightly narrower at base than elytra at base; lateral carina slightly sinuate, about half to two-thirds complete; punctation sparse to moderately dense in central fifth, consisting of small round punctures, which become progressively larger and denser towards the lateral margin; with at least a partly developed unpunctured midline; shiny or with weak reticulate microsculpture; sparsely to moderately densely clothed with moderately long silvery pubescence which is confined to the lateral half of the pronotum.

Scutellum: approximately quadrate to slightly elongate; shiny or weakly microsculptured; about one-twelfth to one-fifteenth width of elytra at base.

Elytra: 2.29–2.55 times as long as wide at the base; basal margin weakly bisinuate; very slightly widening from base over the humeral callosities, thence very weakly widening to mid-length, before narrowing to the narrowly rounded apices; lateral margins from mid-length and apices with fairly weak acute serrations; sutural margin strongly raised in apical third; each elytron often with two developed costae, sometimes the intervals between the costae are also subcostate, and the costae are then less evident and the punctation partly arranged in longitudinal series; 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: densely punctured with moderately large, shallow ovate and round punctures, partly obscured by moderately long silvery pubescence.

Prosternum: with a narrow bead at the anterior margin; prosternal process slightly widening distally, very sparsely punctured with small round or pin-prick punctures, with an irregular line of larger punctures near the lateral margin, some of which are coalescent near the base of the prosternal process; glabrous.

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

Apical sternite ( Fig. 216): with the lunate punctures mostly separate, sometimes slightly coalescent near the lateral margin, but not forming grooves or ridges; excision about twice as wide as deep; the lateral spines scarcely developed; distal margin of flange straight.

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

Aedeagus ( Fig.184).

Ovipositor: short, about as long as wide.

Comments. This species is most likely to be confused with specimens of M. septemplagiata Carter lacking elytral markings and which sometimes have most of the pronotum reddish violet or lilac coloured, however, M. septemplagiata has the basal margin of the elytra noticeably biangulate not weakly bisinuate as in M. purpurilata , and in M. septemplagiata the lateral margins of the elytra near the apex are slightly sinuate, and the apices are slightly spatulate.

Etymology. The name of this species comes from the reddish violet or lilac colour of the lateral half of the pronotum.

Bionomics. Adults have been collected from September to early November. Adults found on Acacia (Fabaceae) leaves. Larval hosts unknown.