Jewel Bugs of Australia (Insecta, Heteroptera, Scutelleridae)
Author
Gerry Cassis
Author
Loren Vanags
text
Denisia
2006
19
275
398
journal article
10.5281/zenodo.12996779
12996779
Calliphara nobilis
(
LINNAEUS
1763)
(
Figs 19c
,
21c
) Revised Australian Record
Cimex nobilis
LINNAEUS
1763: 17
(n.sp.);
STÅL
1866: 153
(description)
Cimex pustulatus
PANZER
1798: 111
(n.sp.; junior homonym);
LYAL
1979: 172
(synonymy)
Scutellera buquetti
GUÉRIN-MÉNEVILLE
1838: 159
, 162 (n.sp.);
LYAL
1979: 172
(synonymy)
Callidea nobilis
:
GERMAR
1839: 117
(new combination);
DALLAS
1851: 25
(list);
WALKER
1867: 32
(list);
STÅL
1873: 17
(list);
ATKINSON
1887: 165
(list);
TRYON
1892: 14
(New Guinea);
LETHIERRY
&
SEVERIN
1893: 24
(catalogue);
DISTANT
1902: 53
, fig. 23 (description);
SCHOUTEDEN
1904: 32
(list);
KIRKALDY
1909: 298
(catalogue);
TAKARA
1957
(host plant);
BALOCH
,
MOHYUDDIN
&
GHANI
1968
(host plant);
HILGENDORF
&
GOEDEN
1982
(host plant);
TOMOKUNI
et al. 1993: 218
, pl. 89 (description; colour photos);
KOHNO
2006: 67
(biology; host plants)
CallipHara buquetti
:
STÅL
1866: 153
(new combination)
Diagnosis:
CallipHara nobilis
is recognised by the following characters: dorsum iridescent green; callosite region mostly black (
Fig. 19c
); pronotal black with 8 black spots (
Fig. 19c
); scutellum with six spots (
Fig. 19c
); femora orange; abdominal venter mostly orange, with broad sublateral green iridescent band (
Fig. 21c
); eyes large (
Fig. 19c
); lateral margins of abdominal sterna densely punctate (
Fig. 21c
); posterolateral angles of abdominal sterna without spines (
Fig. 21c
); CAII(M) with U-shaped lobal sclerite CAIII divided; and, vesica short.
Description: Body moderately large, male 13 mm.
Colouration.
Body mostly green to copper-green, with patterned black spots on pronotum (4 spots medially, plus subtriangular burnt-orange calli) and scutellum (7 spots) (
Fig. 19c
). Antennae: uniformly fuscous. Pronotum black, tip of scutellum, hemelytral margins, appendages, connexiva, and male and female terminalia black to bluish-black, sometimes with a green tinge. Scutellum: mostly burnt orange; thoracic pleura bicoloured, ventrally orange, laterally with greenish iridescence; Legs: coxae, trochanters and proximal 4/5 of femora burnt-orange to red; remainder of legs fuscous to bluish-fuscous. Abdominal Venter: mostly orange, with broad sublateral green iridescence, with embrowned margins (
Fig. 21c
); terminalia embrowned; ventral surface of pygophore iridescent copper-brown, basally iridescent green (
Fig. 21c
).
Texture.
Body densely punctate, with shallow punctures.
Vestiture.
Abdominal venter with moderate distribution of pale, simple setae.
Structure.
Eyes: large, about 1/2 length of Head. Antennae: AII(a) a little longer than AI. Labium: reaching between middle and apex of metacoxae. Male Genitalia: ventral margin of male pygophore deeply emarginate; genital opening of pygophore with dorsal and ventral patches of setae; vesica short, with arcuate dorsal process; CAII bifurcate, CAII(M) mostly membraneous with U-shaped lobal sclerite, CAII(L) elongate, digitiform, sclerotized, distally recurved; CAIII bifurcate, CAIII(D) branch elongate, digitiform, sclerotized; CAIII(V) short, mostly membraneous, lobate. Abdominal Venter: posterior angles of female abdominal SVI-VII with minute acuminate spines; male posterior angles of abdominal sterna bare (
Fig. 21c
). Female Terminalia: paratergites VIII large, concave and triangular; paratergites IX smaller, convex and club-shaped, fused medially to the tenth sternum; and gonocoxae I large, subtriangular, flap-like.
Measurements.
BL: 12.89, PW: 8.25, IOD: 1.98, AI: 0.64, AII(a): 1.04, AII(b) 4.54, AIII: 5.24, AIV: 5.46, LI: 3.61, LII: 3.95, LIII: 3.46, LIV: 2.77.
Specimens examined:
Australia
:
1♂
,
Northern Territory
,
7 km
ESE Smith Point
, 11°09’S132°11’E,
Cobourg Peninsula
,
23 January 1977
,
ED Edwards
(
ANIC
)
;
Indonesia
:
5♂♂
1♀
,
Sumatra
,
Dolok Merangir
,
EW Diehl
(
AMNH
)
;
2♀♀
,
East Borneo
,
Saminedia
,
Sternitzky
coll. (
AMNH
)
;
1♂
,
Sumatra
,
Stabat
,
60 km
NW of Medan
,
30 m
,
23-vi-1974
,
EW Diehl
(
AMNH
)
;
Philippines
:
4♂♂
3♀♀
,
Mindanao
,
Calapan
,
P de Mesa
(
AMNH
)
.
Distribution: This species is broadly distributed in southeast Asia from China (in-cluding Taiwan) and Burma in the north, and through the Indo-Malaysian peninsula, as well as the Philippines and New Guinea.
KIRKALDY
(1909)
tentatively recorded
C. nobilis
from Australia (Tropical Queensland?),
LYAL
(1979)
explicitly excluded it. The specimen from the Northern Territory (
Fig. 23
) is the first precise Australia record.
Host plants and biology: There was no host plant record for the Northern Territory specimen listed above. There are five host plants recorded for this species from outside of Australia (
Table 1
).
Remarks: In LYAL’ s (1979) classification,
C. nobilis
belongs to the
CallipHara excellens
species group, the latter established primarily on the condition of the conjunctival appendages. This species group comprises seven species, including two Australian species (
C. imperialis
and
C. regalis
) additional to
C. nobilis
, as well as three species from Indonesia,
C. lanceolata
,
C. regia
and
C. excellens
, with the last also occurring in the Philippines. The relationships of these taxa have not been analysed, although,
C. nobilis
shares numerous similarities in the male genitalia with
C. regalis
, including a short vesica, simple ejaculatory apparatus, and very similar conjunctival appendages. They are easily separated externally by colouration patterns alone (cf.
Figs 19
a-d).