Uracanthus insignis Lea, 1916

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 : 35-36

Uracanthus insignis Lea, 1916

(Figs 33, 71, 101)

Uracanthus insignis Lea, 1916: 370 .— McKeown, 1942: 87; 1947: 64.

Description

Male. Body length, 23.58–28.1 mm; width, 4.27–4.99 mm.

Colour (Fig. 33). Head, thorax, basal 1/3 and apical 1/10 of elytra, and elytral suture blackish brown; remaining body yellowish to reddish brown. Frons, vertex, antennae and legs covered with fairly dense golden pubescence. Pronotum with a large longitudinal glabrous area on disc, wider at anterior edge and becoming narrower at posterior edge, and margined by a narrow line of dense white pubescence at each side of glabrous area; each side of pronotum with a wide longitudinal stripe of dense white pubescence near ventral side; area between narrow pubescent line on disc and wide pubescent stripe near ventral side, with dense yellowish brown pubescence; ventral surface of prothorax sparsely pubescent or almost glabrous. Basal 1/3 suture behind scutellum and margin of elytron with white pubescence; elytral apex and suture from basal 1/3 to apex sparsely pubescent or glabrous, and blackish brown; remaining part of elytra with dense short yellowish pubescence. Meso- and metasterna, and sternites with short yellowish pubescence. Body and apical elytra colour varies from blackish brown to reddish brown.

Head. Postclypeus triangular, convex, sparsely and coarsely punctate; frontoclypeal suture wide and deep in middle; frons and vertex finely punctate; distance between lower lobes of eyes 2.27–2.4 × as long as distance between upper lobes of eyes; distance between upper lobes of eyes 1.0–1.1 × as long as distance between eyes on ventral side; genal length 0.63–0.79 × as long as head width immediately below eyes. Antennae shorter than body, thin with dense short pubescence and fine punctures; segments 5–10 flattened and produced on one side at apex.

Thorax and abdomen. Pronotum 1.19–1.29 × as long as width, rounded at side; posterior margin 1.16– 1.34 × as wide as anterior margin; pronotal disc binodulose in middle; disc and side with distinct transverse rugae. Scutellum semicircular, with dense pubescence. Elytra 4.12–4.66 × as long as prothorax and 3.9–4.04 × as long as shoulder; apex bispinose. Apex of terminal sternite truncate.

Male terminalia. Apex of ventral lobe rounded with a very shallow notch; apex of dorsal lobe pointed; ventral lobe distinctly shorter than dorsal lobe; spined region of internal sac much longer than basal unspined region, divided into 2 sections: first section with mixture of dense simple spines and multi-branched spines; second section with fairly dense multi-branched spines ( Fig. 71a). Eighth sternite strongly obliquely truncate at sides, widely emarginate at apex, with fairly dense long setae arising terminally; ventral surface with cloudlike processes ( Fig. 71b). Eighth tergite parallel at sides and truncate at apex with long and short setae, mainly arising terminally, and dorsal surface with dense simple spines, and multi-branched spines ( Fig. 71c). Paramere short and robust, 1.80–1.83 × as long as wide, cylindrical in shape, apex rounded with long and short setae ( Fig. 71d).

Female. Body length, 23.77–39.14 mm; width, 4.11–7.40 mm

Body more robust and broader, antennae and legs shorter. Elytra slightly longer and wider, 3.83–4.09 × as long as shoulder width and 4.38–5.29 × as long as prothorax.

Ovipositor and spermatheca. Ovipositor relatively long; styli arising terminally with short hairs ( Fig. 71e). Spermatheca slightly curved; spermathecal gland short and arising at base ( Fig. 71f).

Distribution Northern andn eastern Queensland and northeastern New South Wales ( Fig. 101).

Biology Hosts are unknown. Adults were collected from January to July by MV light trap. Comments

This species closely resembles U. punctulatus , sp. nov. but differs in having white pubescent lines on the pronotal disc, and the elytral suture from basal 1/3 to apex and apical area sparsely pubescent or glabrous, and blackish brown.

Material examined

Holotype. ♂. NSW: Narara (33º20'S, 151º22'E), Coll. no. I. 5691, W. du Bouday, bearing a name label on which ‘TYPE’ was written in red ( SAM).

Paratype. 1 ♂. NSW: same data as above but bearing a blue paratype label; last segment of abdomen missing ( AM) .

Other material examined. 8 ♂, 6 ♀. QLD: 4 ♂, 30 km NE of Coen (13º32'S, 143º29'E), 500 m McIlwraith Range, Leo Creek Road. , 29.vi–4.vii.1976, G. B & S. R. Monteith ( QM) ; 1 ♂, 15 km W Captain Billy Creek (11º40'S, 142º45'E), Dividing Range, Cape York Penisular , 4–9.vii.1975, G. B. Monteith ( QM) ; 1 ♀, Lam National Park , 4.ii.1966 ( UQIC) ; 1 ♀, Paluma (15º00'S, 146º12'E), 900m, 10.ii.1980, D. W. Frith ( ANIC) ; 2 ♂, 8 km W by N of Bald Hill (13º45'S, 143º22'E), Mcllwraith Range, 500 m upper Leo Creek site, 27.v–12.1989, at light, T. A. Weir ( ANIC) ; 1 ♀, Eungella , C of QLD, i.1976, G. B ( ANIC) ; 1 ♂, Mt. Spec (18º57'S, 146º11'E), i.1964, G. B ( ANIC) . NSW: 1 ♀, Comboyne , 1973 ( AM) ; 1 ♀, Newport, 5.ii.1964, R. H. Mulder Collection ( AM) ; 1 ♀, NSW, Caparra , 1.iv.1992, S. G. Watkins Collection ( ANIC) .