Melobasis simplex, (Germar)

Levey, Brian, 2023, A revision of the Australian species of the genus Melobasis Laporte & Gory 1837 (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), Part 3 (Revision of the azureipennis, cupricollis, iridicolor and melanura species groups), Zootaxa 5302 (1), pp. 1-100 : 40-44

M. simplex (Germar)

(Figs 10, 26, 51, 52, 74, 75)

Buprestis simplex (Germar) 1848:175 ; Lacordaire 1857:47; Gemminger & Harold 1869: 1383; Saunders 1871:44; Masters 1886:94; Kerremans 1892:106; 1903:159; Carter 1923:78; 1929:286; Obenberger 1930:435; Faithfull 1997:23; Bellamy 2002:164; 2008:1333; Cowie 2001:15; Bellamy et al. 2013:62.

Type locality: S. Australia, Adelaide.

Melobasis viridis Saunders 1876:158 ; Kerremans 1885:137; Masters 1886:95; Kerremans 1892:107; 1903:159; Carter 1923:81; 1929:286; Obenberger 1930:435; Bellamy 2002:164; 2008:1333.

Type locality: S. Australia, Adelaide.

Melobasis viridiventris Kerremans 1898:124 ; 1903:159; Carter 1923:81; 1929:286; Obenberger 1930:435; Bellamy 2002:164; 2008:1333.

Type locality: Australia.

Melobasis concolor Kerremans 1898:125 ; 1903:159; Carter 1923:81; 1929:286; Obenberger 1930:435; Bellamy 2002:164; 2008:1334.

Type locality: Australia.

Melobasis vicina Kerremans 1898:126 ; 1903:159; Carter 1923:81; 1929:286; Obenberger 1930:435; Bellamy 2002:164; 2008:1334.

Type locality: Australia.

Type specimens examined. B. simplex Germar Holotype ♀ ( BMNH), simplex Ge. Adelaide / Adelaide 64/ simplex Germ. Type/ Saunders 74.18. [The specimen agrees well with Germar’s original description but is larger than the size quoted. Saunders acquired type specimens from many old collections, and may have acquired Germar’s types. Saunders register and collection of Buprestidae dated March 28 1872, says the specimen registered as No. 64 is Type ex. Coll. Germar. There is a specimen in ( ZMHB) labelled as the type but it does not agree with Germar’s original description and is a specimen of M. obscurella Thomson 1879 . On the basis of the above information I consider the latter specimen is not the type].

M. viridis Saunders Holotype ♁ ( BMNH), Adela./ viridis E.S./ Saunders 74.18. [Saunders after the description of the species, in a note, mentions another specimen. I do not consider the specimen to be part of a type series as it is not included in the description. I have not been able to definitively identify the specimen amongst Saunders material in ( BMNH). The description does not indicate that Saunders described the species from more than one specimen and I therefore consider the specimen labelled as viridis above to be the holotype].

M. viridiventris Kerremans Holotype ♀ ( BMNH), Australie H. Deyr./ viridiventris Kerr. Type/ M. viridiventris Austral. / Kerremans 1903 -59.

M. concolor Kerremans Holotype ♁ ( BMNH), Australie Chevrolat/ Collection Chevrolat/ concolor Kerr. Type/ M. concolor Kerr. Australie / Kerremans 1903 -59.

M. vicina Kerremans Holotype ♀ ( BMNH), Australie H. Deyr. / vicina Kerr. Type/ Kerremans 1903 -59.

Other specimens examined. S. Australia: Adelaide; Barossa; Flinders Range; Kapunda, 3.9 km N.W.; Monarto; Mt. Compass; Parra Wirra N.P., road north; Quorn; Quorn, 1 km S.; Quorn, 15 km S.W.; Sandy Creek Conservation Park; Spring Gully N.P.; Wilpena Pound; Yorketown. Northern Territory: Alice Springs, near. New South Wales: Armidale; Dangars Falls , Armidale; Moonbi Lookout, N. of Tamworth. Queensland: no locality. Specimens in AMSA, ANIC, BLC, BCM, BMNH, IRSNB, MPC, MVMA, SAMA, TMSHC.

Diagnosis. General diagnosis: length 7.9–9.7 mm; ♁ head, pronotum and elytra emerald green, golden green to golden, underside emerald green or golden green; ♀ head, pronotum and elytra dull green to olive green, underside emerald green, green with reddish violet reflections or almost entirely blackish lilac; underside glabrous or very sparsely clothed with short silvery pubescence in central parts, laterally moderately densely clothed with short silvery pubescence.

Head (Fig. 26): ♁ very densely to contiguously punctate with very small strong punctures, the narrow rims of the punctures shiny; ♀ densely to very densely punctate with slightly weaker punctures, the spaces between the punctures microreticulate; glabrous to very sparsely clothed with very short, scarcely visible, silvery pubescence; clypeal excision broad, V shaped, sometimes with a small notch in the middle, clypeal peaks rounded, clypeal angles not developed; vertex flat, about one half width of head across eyes when viewed from above; eyes strongly convex.

Antenna: not sexually dimorphic; segments 3–10 expanded, segment 3 subtriangularly expanded, segments 4–10 with expansion quadrate, slightly petiolate at base.

Pronotum: 1.43–1.62× as wide at base as long in midline; anterior margin moderately strongly bisinuate with a broad well developed median lobe, with a well developed entire beaded margin; posterior margin weakly bisinuate; widest near basal third; lateral margins parallel for a short distance in front of the basal angles, before weakly curvilinearly diverging to widest point, or weakly curvilinearly diverging from basal angles to widest point; anteriorly weakly curvilinearly or rectilinearly converging from widest point to apical angles; basal angles right-angled; slightly narrower to as wide at base as elytra at base; lateral carina sharp well defined, almost straight to slightly sinuate, about half to two-thirds complete; punctation in central half very dense, consisting of small transversely ellipsoidal punctures, mostly arranged in regular transverse series, sometimes with an incomplete impuncate median line; punctation in lateral half, slightly larger, very dense to contiguous, the punctures becoming progressively less ellipsoidal, mostly ovate near the lateral margin; spaces between punctures moderately strongly microreticulate; glabrous.

Scutellum: as long as wide to slightly transverse, shield shaped, about one-fifthteenth width of elytra at base; moderately strongly microreticulate.

Elytra: 2.37–2.50× as long as wide at base; basal margin very weakly bisinuate, weakly widening from base over the humeral callosities thence very slightly widening to midlength, before narrowing to the rounded apices; lateral margins in apical half and apices serrate, with acute serrations; sutural margins slightly raised in apical half; almost uniformly densely to very densely punctate with small round to slightly ellipsoidal punctures in inner half, punctures becoming transverse ellipsoidal in lateral half; without seriate punctation or costae, but usually with slight indications of two or three raised intervals discernible near the midlength; moderately strongly microreticulate between the punctures.

Hypomeron: contiguously punctate with medium sized, shallow, ovate punctures, the bottoms of which are moderately strongly microreticulate, moderately densely clothed with adpressed inconspicuous moderately long silvery pubescence.

Prosternum: with a very narrow bead at the anterior margin; the anterior margin at about the same level as the area behind; with sparse long silvery pubescence sometimes mainly confined to the lateral half; prosternal process strongly widening distally, less wide than long at its widest point, densely to very densely punctate with small round punctures, with sparse scattered silvery pubescence.

Mesanepisternum: contiguously punctate with moderately large very shallow round and ovate setae bearing punctures in anterior half, very densely punctate with variably shaped and very small punctures in posterior half.

Central part of metaventrite and inner third of metacoxae, sparsely punctate with small round punctures, sparsely to moderately densely clothed with moderately long silvery pubescence; punctation of lateral parts composed of contiguous round and lunate punctures, moderately densely clothed with moderately long silvery pubescence; abdominal ventrites sparsely clothed with moderately long silvery pubescence at centre, moderately densely clothed with moderately long silvery pubescence laterally; punctation composed of small elongate lunate punctures at centre, laterally very densely to contiguously punctate, with much larger lunate punctures.

Apical ventrite (Figs 51, 52): lunate punctures coalescing but not forming well defined grooves parallel to the lateral margin; excision in ♁ broad, W shaped, with a moderately broad bisinuate flange, produced at the centre as a broad rounded lobe, sometimes subtruncate, or a narrower almost triangular lobe (specimen from Armidale), with well developed, moderately long, slightly divergent lateral spines (Fig. 51); ♀ narrow, deep, U shaped with a well developed flange and moderately long, slightly divergent lateral spines (Fig. 52).

Fore tibia: ♁ slightly curved, with a setal brush in apical fifth on the anterior face; ♀ the same.

Mid tibia: ♁ strongly curved, moderately swollen, with a moderately long, wide, setae-filled depression on the ventral face; ♀ slightly curved, without a depression.

Aedeagus (Figs 74, 75): parameres without spine like setae, only the usual long fine setae; apex of median lobe narrowly truncate at tip.

Ovipositor: not examined.

Comments. This species is very similar to M. aureoviridis sp. n. (see comments under that species).

Bionomics. Adults collected on Acacia sp. (Fabaceae) : A. calamifolia , A. euthycarpa , A. pycnantha , A. quornensis , A. retinodes , A. retinodes var. uncifolia , A. wattsiana ; Callitris preissii , C. gracilis (Cupressaceae) ; Callistemon salignus , C. sieberi (Myrtaceae) ; Allocasuarina verticillata (Casuarinaceae) ; Exocarpus cupressiformis (Santalaceae) . Adults collected from late October to January. Larval host Acacia pycnantha & A. retinodes (P.J. Lang (2020)).