Melanterius porcatus Erichson, 1842

Pinzón-Navarro, Sara V., Jennings, Debbie & Oberprieler, Rolf G., 2017, Host associations of Melanterius Erichson (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Cleogonini), with a diagnosis and delimitation of the genus and description of five new species, Zootaxa 4298 (1), pp. 1-77 : 26

Melanterius porcatus Erichson, 1842

( Figs. 42–43 )

Melanterius porcatus W. F. Erichson, 1842: 210

This species was described from Tasmania (no precise locality given) and may be restricted to that state, as males from New South Wales / A.C. T. and Queensland differ significantly in their genitalia. It is a large, black species with large, medially constricted to irregular elytral punctures and thin, wavy interstriae, and a shiny, finely punctate pronotum. Like M. bidentatus and M. semiporcatus , it has two ventral femoral teeth. It is most similar to M. bidentatus , which also has separate procoxae and a similar pronotal sculpture but differs in having narrower, more regular elytral punctures and straight, costate interstriae. The penis ( Fig. 43 ) is elongate but broad, with a broadly rounded, sclerotised apex and a large trident-like basal endophallic sclerite (a pair of narrow, elongate, connected median sclerites, each with a broad, flat, rounded arm). In externally indistinguishable specimens from New South Wales / A.C. T. the penis has a peculiarly malleate (hammer-shaped) apex and a more complex set of basal endophallic sclerites, and in a similar specimen from Fraser Island, Queensland, the penis has an attenuate but rounded apex and a smaller but also trident-like basal endophallic sclerite. It is thus evident that M. porcatus in the traditional sense comprises a complex of cryptic species.

Lea (1899) reported collecting M. porcatus from Acacia decurrens at Forest Reefs in New South Wales, but this evidently does not refer to the true M. porcatus , and whether it represents a larval host association is also unclear. We did not collect any specimens of M. porcatus or similar species.

Figures

FIGURES 40 – 43. Dorsal view of habitus and aedeagi of Melanterius tasmaniensis (Lea) and M. porcatus Erichson. 40 – 41: M. tasmaniensis; 40: male (New South Wales, Vincentia); 41: aedeagus (A. C. T., Tidbinbilla Road). 42 – 43: M. porcatus; 42: male (Tasmania, Bathurst Harbour); 43: adeagus (Tasmania, Hobart).