Uracanthus ventralis Lea, 1917a

Thongphak, Duangrat & Wang, Qiao, 2007, Taxonomic revision of the longicorn beetle genus Uracanthus Hope 1833 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Cerambycinae: Uracanthini) from Australia., Zootaxa 1569 (1569), pp. 1-139 : 52-53

Uracanthus ventralis Lea, 1917a

(Figs 44, 82, 106)

Uracanthus ventralis Lea, 1917a: 741 .— McKeown, 1947:67.

Uracanthus multilineatus McKeown, 1948: 54 . syn. nov.

Description

Male. Body length, 13.53–20.79 mm; width, 2.72–4.27 mm.

Colour (Fig. 44). Body reddish brown with head, thorax and basal 1/5–1/3 of elytra often darker. Head and thorax with dense white pubescence; pronotal disc with a glabrous median longitudinal line and a glabous spot on each side of the median line. Elytra covered with whitish pubescence; each elytron with 4 longitudinal stripes of very dense white pubescence on disc excluding 1 at margin and 1 at suture. Legs covered with fairy dense pubescence; mid and hind femora with very dense, brush-like brownish hairs on ventral side. Abdomen with fairly dense yellowish pubescence; each of visible sternites 1–3 with a medial tuft of very dense brownish hairs.

Head. Postclypeus semicircular and flattened, with dense large coarse punctures; distance between lower lobes of eyes 1.62–1.82 × as long as distance between upper lobes of eyes; distance between upper lobes of eyes 1.0–1.15 × as long as distance between eyes on ventral side; genal length 0.23–0.25 × as long as head width immediately below eyes. Antennae slightly longer than body; segments 4–10 flattened and produced on one side at apex.

Thorax and abdomen. Pronotum 1.14–1.43 × as long as width, with a small conical process at each side; posterior margin 1.08–1.30 × as wide as anterior margin; pronotal disc binodulose in middle area; disc and side strongly rugose transversely. Scutellum semicircular, with dense pubescence. Elytra 3.45–4.15 × as long as prothorax and 3.29–3.57 x as long as shoulder width; apex rounded or truncate, with an acute spine at suture. Apex of terminal sternite emarginate.

Male terminalia. Apex of ventral median lobe narrowly rounded and apex of dorsal lobe rounded; ventral lobe slightly shorter than or as long as dorsal lobe; spined region of internal sac divided into two sections: first section located near base with a mixture of dense simple spines and fairly dense multi-branched spines; second section with sparse short simple spines; a long unspined gap between the two sections ( Fig. 82a). Eighth sternite obliquely truncate at side, shallowly emarginate at apex, with sparse long setae arising terminally; ventral surface with cloud-like processes ( Fig. 82b). Eighth tergite truncate or shallowly emarginate at apex; dorsal surface with fairly dense short simple spines and multi-branched spines ( Fig. 82c). Paramere 1.96–1.98 × as long as wide, cylindrical in shape, apex rounded ( Fig. 82d).

Female. Body length, 12.81–19.72 mm; width, 2.38–4.04 mm.

Antennae distinctly shorter than body; femora without brownish brush-like hairs and visible sternites without medial tufts of very dense brownish hairs.

Ovipositor and spermatheca. Ovipositor relatively long; styli arising terminally with short hairs ( Fig.

82e). Spermatheca slightly curved; spermathecal gland arising at base ( Fig. 82f).

Distribution

Southwestern Queenland , central Northern Territory, northern and sourthern South Australia, and central and southwestern Western Australia ( Fig. 106) .

Biology Hosts are unknown. Adults were collected by light in November and January to March.

Comments

This species resembles U. albatus but differs in having the elytral apex unispinose and each elytron with 4 longitudinal stripes of dense pubescence on the disc.

Material examined

U. ventralis . Holotype. ♂. WA: Mullewa, J. F. May, bearing a name label on which ‘TYPE’ was written in red; 1 segment of right antenna missing ( SAM).

U. multilineatus . Holotype. ♂. WA: Lake Violet , Coll. no. 27–1497, Reg. no. 33556, antennae damaged ( WAM).

Other material examined. 14 ♂, 5 ♀. QLD: 1 ♂, 24 ml. NE of Kihee H.S (27°23'S, 142°37'E), QLD, 14.i.1965, at MV light, L. J. Chinnick ( ANIC) . NT: 1 ♂, Stuart H’way, 26 km. S of Tennant Creek (19°33'S, 134°14'E), 29.xi.1972, D. H. Colless ( ANIC) ; 1 ♂, 30 km NW by W of Alice Springs (23°32'S, 133°38'E), 7.x.1978, Upton & Barrett ( ANIC) . SA: 1 ♂, Musgrave Ranges , 12.ii.1966, at light, P. Aitken & N. B. Tindale ( SAM) ; 1 ♀, Mulgathing HS (30°14'S, 133°59'E), 8.xi.1977, on brushes forming a hedge around the SH, F. & J. Austin ( SAM) . WA: 1 ♂, Sandstone, det by Lea , H. J. Carter Collection ( NMV) ; 1 ♂, same as above but ( WAM) ; 2 ♂, 37 km SW of Youanmi (28°45'S, 118°31'E), 13–14.iii.1982, at light, Coll. no. 437-8, T. F. Houston & B. Hanich ( WAM) ; 1 ♂, 12 km NE of Warriedar (29°04'S, 117°18'E), 18.iii.1982, at light, Coll. no. 442- 1, T. F. Houston & B. Hanich ( WAM) ; 1 ♂, Wiluna (26°35'S, 120°13'E), ii.1961, A. Douglas leg., G. F. Mus ( WAM) ; 1 ♀, Ellavalla stn., Carnarvon, ii.1955, A. Snell ( NMV) ; 1♂, 3 ♀, Marloo Stn. (28°22'S, 122°37'E), Wurarga, 1931–1941, A. Goerling ( ANIC) ; 2 ♂, Deeba Rockhole (28°19'S, 116°10'E), 34 km NE by N of Laverton, 12.xi.1977, T. A. Weir ( ANIC) ; 1 ♂, Binnu (28°02'S, 114°40'E), 8.ii.1965, M. de. Graaf ( WAM) .