A taxonomic revision of the Australian Chrysomelinae, with a key to the genera (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)
Author
Reid, Chris A. M.
text
Zootaxa
2006
2006-08-14
1292
1
1
119
https://biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.1292.1.1
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.1292.1.1
11755334
5070849
DE2A0651-CDCE-461C-BC95-E03E25C15394
Sphaerotritoma coccinelloides
(Lea, 1917)
,
comb. nov.
(
Figs. 15–20
,
23
, 68)
Oomela coccinelloides
Lea 1917: 577
Material examined
Holotype
:
♀
/
coccinelloides
Lea
type Cairns/
Oomela coccinelloides
Lea
Queensland
type/
Paropsimorpha coccinelloides
(Lea)
, Daccordi det. 1987/ (
SAM
); nontypes:
3♀
/ Malanda,
xi.1947
, J. G. Brooks (
ANIC
). The
holotype
has been damaged. It was dissected by a previous borrower, with loss of some legs and fragments of the overcleared abdominal contents mounted in euparal.
Description
Adult female (male unknown). Length: 3.5–4.0mm. Colour (Fig. 68): entirely yellow, except elytra dark brown to black, with yellow margins adjacent to scutellum, large transverse yellow patch on middle of each elytron and yellow epipleura; apical antennomeres may be darker reddishyellow. Pubescence: dorsum glabrous except setae at anterolateral corners of labrum and clypeus, short trichobothrial setae at pronotal corners; venter with scattered setae on prosternal process and metaventrite. Microsculpture: dorsum shining, without microsculpture, except clypeus microreticulate, venter shining but mostly microreticulate.
Head (
Figs. 15–16
): frontoclypeus smooth without grooves, not raised around antennal bases; clypeus, frons and vertex finely and sparsely punctured; eyes separated by about 2x eye lengths; all antennomeres elongate, 5 equals 6 shortest, 11 longest.
Thorax (
Figs. 17–20
, 68): surface of pronotum finely and evenly punctured throughout; prosternal ridges convergent anteriorly at anterior prosternal margin; elytral striae finely and sparsely punctured, punctures slightly larger than sparse interstrial punctures; metaventrite anterior border flattened and greatly expanded to occupy anterolateral corners of sclerite; hind tarsomere 1 longer than 2.
Abdomen (
Figs. 17
,
23
): first ventrite with large arcuate expansion of anterior border; last ventrite apical margin with projecting convex median lobe, slightly sinuate each side.
Female genitalia (
Fig. 23
): sclerites reduced to apically convex tergite VIII and short sternite VIII, vaginal palp absent, spermatheca absent.
Distribution and biology
The species was described from "Cairns" but this is likely to mean the Cairns region. The other material examined is from Malanda, at the wetter, southern, end of the Atherton Tableland, 55 kilometres SW of Cairns. Hostplants are unknown. This species is viviparous and like many such species lacks a spermatheca (Bontems 1988).