Sphaerotritoma coccinelloides (Lea, 1917) Reid, 2006

Reid, Chris A. M., 2006, A taxonomic revision of the Australian Chrysomelinae, with a key to the genera (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), Zootaxa 1292 (1), pp. 1-119 : 1-119

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).

Figures

FIGURES 15–20. Female Sphaerotritoma coccinelloides (Lea): 15, anterior; 16, antenna; 17, venter; 18, pro­ and metaventrites; 19, tarsus; 20, tarsal claws.

FIGURES 21–26. Sphaerotritoma species (Mount Lamington): 21, thoracic venter; 22, aedeagus. Sphaerotritoma species. S. coccinelloides (Lea): 23, ovipositor; Sphaerotritoma species (Mount Lamington): 24, female sternite VIII; 25, ovipositor; 26, spermatheca.