Tessaromma nanum Blackburn, 1899

Jin, Mengjie, Ślipiński, Adam, Keyzer, Roger De & Pang, Hong, 2017, Review of Australian genera Tessaromma Newman and Phlyctaenodes Newman with description of a new genus and species (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Cerambycinae: Phlyctaenodini), Zootaxa 4277 (1), pp. 67-85 : 76-78

Tessaromma nanum Blackburn

( Figures 3A–D , 4 M–P)

Tessaromma nanum Blackburn, 1899 . TL: Queensland ( NMV, lectotype here designated).

Tessaromma nigroapicale Aurivillius, 1917: 13 . TL: Queensland, Cedar Creek (type not found). New Synonym.

Description. Length 6–11mm. Body integument reddish brown to dark brown with apices of elytra usually lighter. Vestiture of sparse brown or silvery bristles and short, adpressed setae, yellowish, sparser and less obvious on head and pronotum, much denser on elytra forming silvery wavy pattern at basal two thirds and yellowish or golden at apex. Head as long as wide, including eyes slightly wider than prothorax at anterior margin. Frontoclypeus flat uniformly brown with small yellowish and smooth shiny areas in front of eyes. Frontoclypeal suture visible as darker transverse line, anterior part of clypeus often yellowish. Eye lower section at least three times as large as the upper section. Antennae sparsely setose ventrally; in male extending 2 antennomeres beyond elytral apices, in female reaching elytral apices; antennomere 4 shorter than antennomeres 3 or 5. Prothorax almost as long as wide, with sharp median projection laterally. Dorsum with two strongly prominent admedian tubercles occupying most of the disc, very narrowly separated anteriorly and almost joined posteriorly. Scutellum distinctly narrowing posteriorly, rounded at apex, covered with dense silvery setae, mostly perpendicular to longitudinal axis. Elytra rounded apically. Each elytron with three dorsal rows of shiny protuberances bearing puncture and bristle apically. Additional bristles in less regular rows or groups on lateral slopes or near apex. Abdomen. Ventrites uniformly dark brown; ventrite 5 in both sexes about as long as 4, truncate or broadly rounded apically. Male genitalia: endophallus with two rows of sclerotized Y-shaped plates (Fig. 6M).

Types. “ Holotype ♀ T-10922, Tessaromma nanum Blackburn | East York , West Aust. | Nat. Mus. Victoria, C. French’s Coll., 5.11.08 ” (1, NMV; Lectotype, here designated). “ Tessaromma nanum Blackburn | Type | Australia Blackburn Coll. BM 1910-236” (1, BMNH; paralectotype).

Material examined (40, ANIC; 36, QM; 9, NMV; 6, SAM; 6, RDKC). Queensland: Tambourine Mountain ; Lamington National Pk ; Bunya Mountains ; Cairns ; Kuranda ; Mt. Glorious; Mt. Hypipamee ; Mt. Spec ; Stanthorpe; Shiptons Flat; Boar Pocket Rd; W shore of L. Tinaroo;. New South Wales: 1km SW of Moss Garden Lookout, Acacia Plateau ; Dorrigo NP ; Mt. Keira ; Tweed Rd; Wingham Brush, Manning River ; 11–12 Combined St, Wingham; Cascade; Gosford; Ourimbah; Wadsworth Trail at Potoroo Road, Dingo SF; Dingo Tops campground, Tapin Tops NP.; 5km W Comboyne; Boorganna NR, Comboyne; 4km S West on Bowerbird Rd. , Girard SF; Pennefathers Rd., Cherry Tree West SF; Copeland Common near Barrington; Upper Allyn River; Wollongong; Bellingen.

Distribution (Fig.6D). Commonly collected species, known from many localities in Queensland and NSW.

Biological data. Most of specimens were collected from September to February by MV light and Malaise trap, but some Queensland specimens were collected in May and June. It is found in a range of wet forest habitats where adults can be occasionally found by beating clusters of dead leaves on forest margins.

Remarks. Tessaromma nanum is easily distinguished from other species by its smooth yellowish spot in front of eyes, small size and by the two obvious, closely aligned tubercles on the pronotum.

We were unable to find the types of Tessaromma nigroapicale Aurivillius described from Cedar Creek (QLD) but based on the original description there is no doubt it represents a darker form ( Fig.3B ) of the broadly distributed ( Fig.3A ) T. nanum .

Figures

FIGURE 3. A – D: Tessaromma nanum Blackburn. E – F: Tessaromma undatum Newman. G – H: Tessaromma triste (Hope). I – J: Tessaromma argenteonigra Gressitt (Holotype, BPBM).

FIGURE 4. A – D: Phlyctaenodes pustulatus (Hope); E – H: Phlyctaenodes pustulosus Newman; I – L: Phlyctaenodes sordidus (McKeown); M – P: Tessaromma nanum Blackburn; Q – U: Tessaromma triste (Hope); V – Y: Tessaromma undatum Newman. A, E, I, M, Q, V: penis; B, F, J, N, R, W: tegmen; C, H, K, O, S, X: sternite VIII; D, G, L, P, T, Y: tergite VIII; U: endophallus.