Melobasis calama, Levey, 2023

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 : 15-17

M. calama sp. n.

(Figs 7, 23, 45, 46, 68, 69)

Type locality: Queensland, Hull River .

Type specimens examined. Holotype ♁ ( ANIC) Hull R. Tully 12/49. JGB/ J.G. Brooks Bequest 1976/ macleayi Cart. 297 . Paratypes as follows: 1♀ ( ANIC) same data as holotype [originally mounted on same card]; 1♁ ( SAMA) Townsville A. Dodd / Griffith Collection Id. By A.M. Lea; 1♁ ( ANIC) Johnstone R. Q. Mackerass; 1♀ ( MVMA) Cairns, N.Q. Jan. 1950 C. Oke; 2♁, 1♀ ( BLC, MPC) 16 km W. of Eungella Dam, Qld. 9 Jan. 2000, M. Powell & M. Hanlon, On Acacia leaves; 1♁ ( TMSHC) same data as previous but Acacia holosericea leaves .

Diagnosis. General diagnosis: length 8.1–10.5 mm; ♁ head and pronotum predominantly golden green, upper third of vertex and central part of prontum usually with extensive coppery reflections, elytra duller green with more or less extensive dull reddish purple to reddish violet reflections, underside laterally and often most of abdominal ventrites predominantly bright reddish purple, centre of prosternum, prosternal process, centre of metaventrite and sometimes centre of basal abdominal ventrites green; ♀ colour similar to ♁ but colour generally duller, the underside predominantly dull reddish purple to reddish violet; underside glabrous to very sparsely clothed with very short inconspicuous silvery pubescence, except for the mesosternum, centre of the metaventrite and centre of first abdominal ventrite in ♁, where pubescence, longer, denser and conspicuous.

Head (Fig. 23): ♁ contiguously punctate with very small strong punctures, the narrow rims of the punctures shiny to weakly microreticulate, glabrous or with a few silvery setae close to the frontoclypeal excision; ♀ densely punctate with slightly larger, weaker, punctures, the spaces between the punctures weakly microreticulate, glabrous; clypeal excision moderately broad, shallow U or V shaped, clypeal peaks very obtuse, 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, very slightly petiolate at base.

Pronotum: 1.43–1.60× as wide at base as long in midline; anterior margin moderately strongly bisinuate with a broad moderately developed, sometimes subtruncate, 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 almost rectilinearly diverging to widest point, or weakly almost rectilinearly diverging from basal angles to widest point; anteriorly weakly curvilinearly 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 curved, about two-thirds to four-fifths complete; punctation in central half very dense to contiguous, consisting of small transversely ellipsoidal punctures, mostly arranged in regular transverse series, without an 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 elongate, shield shaped, about one-thirteenth to one twenty-second width of elytra at base; moderately strongly microreticulate.

Elytra: 2.22–2.44× as long as wide at base; basal margin very weakly bisinuate, very 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; punctation dense in inner half, composed of small round to transversely ovate punctures, partly arranged in relatively regular longitudinal series in apical half, but not puncate-striate, without costae but sometimes with one or two slightly raised intervals in inner half; punctation very dense to contiguous in lateral half, composed of slightly larger transversely ovate to ellipsoidal punctures, partly arranged in transverse series; moderately strongly microreticulate between the punctures.

Hypomeron: contiguously punctate with moderately large, very shallow, ovate punctures, the bottoms of which are weakly microreticulate, glabrous.

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

Mesanepisternum: very densely to contiguously punctate with small variably shaped punctures.

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

Apical ventrite (Figs 45, 46): lunate punctures coalescing and 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 narrow truncate lobe, with well developed, long, slightly convergent lateral spines (Fig. 45). ♀ narrow, deep, U shaped with a well developed flange and moderately long, parallel to slightly convergent lateral spines (Fig. 46).

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

Mid tibia: ♁ strongly curved, slightly swollen, with a long, wide, not setae-filled depression on the ventral face; ♀ slightly curved, without a depression.

Aedeagus (Figs 68, 69): parameres with spine like setae in addition tothe the usual long fine setae; parameres almost parallel sided in basal two-thirds, abruptly narrowed near apical third; apex of median lobe truncate at tip.

Ovipositor: not examined.

Comments. This species is easily distinguished from the rest of the species group by the shape of its aedeagus. In its overall appearance it is most like M. simplex but this species does not occur in Queensland.

Etymology. Named for the shape of the aedeagus which is reminiscent of the old-fashioned dipping pen nibs of my youth, from the latin calama (pen).

Bionomics. Adults collected on Acacia spp. leaves. Adults collected in January. Larval host unknown.