Melitonoma decemnotata ( Thunberg, 1787 ) Bezděk, 2019

Bezděk, Jan, 2019, Annotated review of Cryptocephalinae (Clytrini), Synetinae and part of Galerucinae (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae) described by Carl Peter Thunberg, European Journal of Taxonomy 499, pp. 1-42 : 10-13

Melitonoma decemnotata ( Thunberg, 1787) comb. nov.

Figs 4–5

Cryptocephalus 10-notatus Thunberg, 1787: 47 (original description).

Type locality

Not stated.

Material examined

Holotype

SOUTH AFRICA • ♀; type locality not stated (see Comments); “[small blank label] // Uppsala Univ. Zool. Mus. / Thunbergsaml. nr. 9582 / Cryptocephalus decemnotatus / Mus. Thunb. TYP [r, p] // 10 - notata. / 19 / Mus. Thunb. [box label, w, h]”; UUZM.

Additional material

SOUTH AFRICA – Western Cape province • 1 ♂, 1 ♀; Worcester; Jan. 1929; B.E. Turner leg.; BMNH • 1 ♀; “ P.B. Spei ” [= Cape of Good Hope]; BMNH .

Redescription

BODY LENGTH. ♂: 6.1 mm, ♀♀: 5.1–5.8 mm (holotype ♀: 5.8 mm).

MALE ( Fig. 4H ). Head black, apical halves of mandibles reddish, antennae yellow, antennomeres VII– VIII brownish basally, apices gradually darkened, IX–XI black. Pronotum orange with small blurry dark spot near middle of posterior margin. Scutellum black with orange tip. Elytra orange, each elytron with 5 small black round spots (1, 2, 2). Underside black. Legs black with pale femora and bases of first two protarsomeres.

HEAD ( Fig. 4J ). Mandibles moderately enlarged, left mandible somewhat larger, basal halves robust, apical halves forming long thin hook, dorsal side flat, even and glabrous, sides covered with pale setae. Labrum transverse with rounded anterior angles and shallowly emarginated anterior margin, margins except middle of anterior margin covered with short pale setae, surface lustrous with transverse stripe of dense punctures bearing longer pale setae. Clypeus with wide shallow V-shaped anterior margin. Eyes small. Frons very wide, 3.7 times as wide as diameter of eye, surface uneven, irregularly covered with small punctures and long pale setae. Frons separated from vertex by shallow indistinct impression. Vertex lustrous, covered with sparse punctures and pale setae. Antennae short, 0.21 times as long as body, antennomere I club-shaped, II small, globular, III small, triangular, IV triangular with produced apical angle, antennae shortly serrated from antennomere V.

THORAX. Pronotum glabrous, lustrous, almost impunctate, 1.74 times as wide as long, widest at basal half, moderately convex. Anterior margin nearly straight, lateral margins rounded, posterior margin slightly rounded and moderately expanded in scutellar area. Anterior angles obtusangulate, posterior angles widely rounded. Lateral and posterior margins bordered, anterior margin bordered only near anterior angles. Posterior angles slightly elevated above elytral base. Scutellum subtriangular with rounded tip, glabrous, in basal quarter punctate, rest of surface impunctate, scutellar apex slightly elevated upon elytral level.

ELYTRA. Subcylindrical, 0.65 times as long as body, 1.54 times as long as wide at humeral part, glabrous, semiopaque, densely covered with small confused punctures, disappearing at elytral apices. Basal margin with complete thin border forming narrow elevated keel. Epipleura impunctate, glabrous, wide basally, suddenly narrowed and disappearing at basal third.

LEGS. Protibiae slightly prolonged. Protarsomere I parallel with convergent base, twice as long as broad, length ratios of protarsomeres I–IV equal to 10-7-6-6. Metatarsi narrower that protarsi, length ratios of metatarsomeres I–IV equal to 10-6-6-7. Claws simple.

MALE GENITALIA ( Fig 5 A–B). Aedeagus narrow, 5.5 times as long as wide. Ventral side bulbous in apical part, covered with fine wrinkles, subapically with small tooth.

FEMALE ( Figs 4 A–C, I, 5C). Mandibles and anterior legs not enlarged. Tarsi as wide as in male but moderately shorter, length ratios of protarsomeres I–IV equal to 8-6-6-6. Spermatheca: cornu U-shaped, apical half gradually narrowed to sharp apex, basal half moderately wider, spermathecal duct ca 1.5 times as long as cornu, with ca 15 simple coils ( Fig. 5C ).

Differential diagnosis

Although the species of Melitonoma Chevrolat, 1836 are highly variable in colour, the combination of black femora and tarsi with yellow tibiae is very unusual. Similar coloured legs are known only in three species of Melitonoma : M. diligens Weise, 1909 ( Congo) ; M. flavotibialis Bryant, 1959 ( Kenya) ; and M. litigiosa ( Lacordaire, 1848) (widely distributed in Africa). Several years ago I examined one male syntype of M. diligens deposited in NHRS but the aedeagus was not studied. The aedeagi of M. flavotibialis and M. litigiosa are similar to that of M. decemnotata comb. nov., including a small ventral tooth near apex (see drawings in Medvedev 1993a). This whole species group requires comprehensive revision and, as a first step, M. decemnotata comb. nov. is described above

Distribution

RSA (see comments).

Comments

The type locality was not given in the original description. During my visit to the BMNH in 2017, I found three specimens from the Cape Region which perfectly fit the holotype of Cryptocephalus decemnotatus . As Thunberg personally collected in the Cape and described many new species from this locality, I have no doubt that C. decemnotatus was also collected there.

Figures

Fig. 4. Melitonoma decemnotata (Thunberg, 1787) comb. nov. A–E. Syntype, ♀, 5.8 mm, UUZM. A. Dorsal view. B. Lateral view. C. Frontal view. D. Labels. E. Box label. F–G. Kotpresse. F. Ventral view. G. Dorsal view. H. ♂, 6.1 mm, RSA, Worcester, BMNH. I. ♀, 5.7 mm, RSA, Worcester, BMNH. J. Male head, frontal view.

Fig. 5. Melitonoma decemnotata (Thunberg, 1787) comb. nov. A. Aedeagus, dorsal view. B. Aedeagus, lateral view. C. Spermatheca.