Papers by Debbie Jennings
<i>Melanterius tesseymani</i> sp. n. (Figs. 65–68) <b>Description. Size:</b&... more <i>Melanterius tesseymani</i> sp. n. (Figs. 65–68) <b>Description. Size:</b> length 2.8 mm in male, 3.1 mm in female; width 1.4 mm in male, 1.6 mm in female. <b>Colour and vestiture:</b> body black to blackish-brown; head, pronotum and elytra sparsely clothed with minute short silvery-white setae, legs sparsely covered with larger, whitish hair-scales. <b>Head</b> with small, dense, shallow punctures. Eyes large, slightly convex but not protruding, dorsally separated by two-thirds of width of rostrum at base. <b>Rostrum</b> about 1.2x longer than prothorax (slightly longer in female); robust, slightly downcurved, dorsally continuous in outline with head in profile; dorsally with large, confluent punctures in proximal two-thirds in male, one-third in female, distal part glabrous with sparse, much smaller finely setiferous punctures. <b>Antennae</b> inserted in apical third of rostrum in male, just before middle in female; with funicle 1.2x longer than scape, funicle segment 1 slightly longer than 2+3, club 2x longer than wide in middle. <b>Prothorax</b> trapezoidal in outline, at apex 0.6x as wide as at base, length along midline 0.7x of width at base; pronotum densely punctate, punctures moderately sized, oval, shallow, each in posterior wall carrying a small, pale seta curved anteriad but not reaching anterior margin of puncture. <b>Elytra</b> 2.8x longer than pronotum, at base as wide as pronotum but across humeri ca. 1.25x wider; striae deep, with elongate, subconfluent punctures; interstriae broad, slightly convex on disc but subcostate on sides and declivity, surface rugulose, with irregular row of short fine silvery-white setae on either side of midline (costa). <b>Metanepisterna</b> with a single row of large, shallow, subcontiguous punctures (in some females a second, lower row indicated anteriorly and posteriorly), metanepisternal sutures ventrally fringed with fine white sclerolepidia. <b>Mesoventrite</b> with median process shallowly saddle-shaped; surface finely rugulose and setose but apunctate. <b>M [...]
<i>Melanterius elusus</i> (Casey, 1892) (Figs. 59–60) <i>Chaleponotus elusus<... more <i>Melanterius elusus</i> (Casey, 1892) (Figs. 59–60) <i>Chaleponotus elusus</i> Casey, 1892 <i>Melanterius pectoralis</i> Lea, 1899: 239; Anderson, 2008: 42 (syn.) <i>Melanterius rufimanus</i> Lea, 1915: 464; Pullen <i>et al</i>., 2014: 227 (syn.) The oldest (valid) name of this species is based on a single specimen described by Thomas Casey, supposedly from Indiana in the U. S.A., but no further specimens were ever found in North America and the identity and relationships of the species remained obscure until Anderson (2008) discovered that it belongs in <i>Melanterius</i>. Its name proved to be a senior subjective synonym of <i>pectoralis</i> Lea (Anderson, 2008) and also of <i>rufimanus</i> Lea (Pullen <i>et al</i>., 2014), the former name based on specimens from South Australia without a specific locality, the latter on a single female from Baan Baa in New South Wales. The species occurs from South Australia east- and northwards through New South Wales into southern Queensland. It is easily recognised by the male having the disc of the metaventrite laterally expanded and densely covered with elongate, flattened and apically plumose setae; in the female the disc is only flattened and laterally carries much sparser though similar setae. In both sexes the ventral tooth of the profemora is hook-like enlarged and curved distad to overhang a large round indentation in the ventral side of the femur (Fig. 59). The body of the penis (Fig. 60) is parallel-sided but gently narrowing apicad, without distinct internal sclerites but with a characteristic elongate field of spinosities. No host information is available for the species in the literature and the ANIC. We collected it mainly on <i>A. conferta</i> (9 specimens) and <i>A. deanei</i> (6), sporadically also on <i>A. leucocalyx</i>, <i>A. muelleriana</i> and <i>A. spectabilis</i> (Table 1).
<i>Melanterius maculatus</i> Lea, 1899 (Figs. 5–6, 12, 22–23) <i>Melanterius ma... more <i>Melanterius maculatus</i> Lea, 1899 (Figs. 5–6, 12, 22–23) <i>Melanterius maculatus</i> Lea, 1899: 222 This species was described from Benalla in north-eastern Victoria but occurs widely in South Australia, Tasmania, New South Wales and southern Queensland. It is similar to <i>M. servulus</i> but distinguishable from the latter by its smaller size and more slender shape, by having its elytral interstriae 2 and 4 flat, not costate as the adjacent ones (especially on the declivity, 3 not costate at base) (Fig. 12), by the elytral setae forming irregular clusters (maculae) and by the depression of the apical abdominal ventrite being much narrower. The female also differs from that of <i>M. servulus</i> in that its tibial uncus is parallel to the tibial edge (Fig. 6), and the short, broad penis of the male (Fig. 23) is diagnostic in its apex having a conspicuous pale "lip" and the base of the body a pair of long, thick, complex endophallic sclerites together with a single median one. <i>Melanterius maculatus</i> is somewhat variable, mostly with respect to the degree of impression of its abdominal ventrites, but no distinct and species-diagnostic differences are detectable among populations from different hosts; in particular the penis with its characteristic apical "lip" and basal sclerites is identical in all males (Oberprieler &amp; Zimmerman, 2001). Clarke (2002) also found no genetic differences between samples from different host plants. <i>Melanterius maculatus</i> has quite a wide range of host plants. It was collected on <i>Acacia decurrens</i> over a century ago (Lea, 1899)—the specimens though included in the type series of <i>M. acaciae</i> (see above) —, and in 1930 L. F. Graham collected it on <i>Acacia baileyana</i> in Canberra. In 1976 M. van den Berg, looking for potential biocontrol agents for importation to South Africa, reared the species from seeds of <i>A. baileyana</i>, <i>A. dealbata</i>, <i>A. decurrens</i>, <i>A. elata</i>, <i>A. mearnsii</i> and <i>A. pycnantha</i> in New South Wales. Th [...]
<i>Melanterius castaneus</i> Lea, 1899 (Figs. 3–4, 11, 20–21) <i>Melanterius ca... more <i>Melanterius castaneus</i> Lea, 1899 (Figs. 3–4, 11, 20–21) <i>Melanterius castaneus</i> Lea, 1899: 229 <i>Melanterius compactus</i> Lea, 1899: 241; Pullen <i>et al</i>., 2014: 226 (syn.) This is largely a West-Australian species, described from Pinjarra and Donnybrook and (the synonym <i>compactus</i>) from Perth (Swan River). It occurs throughout south-western Western Australia but has also been recorded from Callington and Murray Bridge in South Australia (Lea, 1913). It is recognisable by its short, stocky body shape, compact antenna, flat (acostate) elytral interstriae (Fig. 11) and coloration (dark pronotum, reddish elytra). Its male genitalia (Fig. 21) are also distinctive, the penis broadly rounded at the apex and carrying pairs of long endophallic sclerites near the apex and at the base of the body. The species was first reared from seeds of <i>Acacia saligna</i> in 1975 (van den Berg, 1980) and appears restricted to this host, against which it was released in South Africa in 2001, under the name <i>M. compactus</i> (Impson &amp; Moran, 2004). It causes extensive damage to its host and is regarded as the most successful of all the <i>Melanterius</i> species imported into South Africa to combat the invasive acacias (Impson <i>et al</i>., 2011). We collected 18 specimens in the Esperance area of Western Australia on <i>A. nigricans</i> (Table 1), which appears to be another host for the species (Table 2).
<i>Melanterius ventralis</i> Lea, 1899 (Figs. 9–10, 46–47) <i>Melanterius ventr... more <i>Melanterius ventralis</i> Lea, 1899 (Figs. 9–10, 46–47) <i>Melanterius ventralis</i> Lea, 1899: 214 This species was described from Sydney and occurs mainly in coastal regions of New South Wales and southern Queensland. The male is distinctive in its medially densely setose apical three ventrites (Fig. 9), its ventrally strongly flattened antennal clubs (Fig. 10) and its apically broadly truncate penis with a small pair of square apical sclerites and a larger complex basal one (Fig. 47). The principal host of <i>M. ventralis</i> is <i>Acacia longifolia</i> (including the subspecies <i>sophorae</i>), from whose seeds it was first reared in 1976 by M. van den Berg (van den Berg, 1982). It is the first <i>Melanterius</i> species to be released in South Africa (Dennill &amp; Donnelly, 1991), in 1985 against <i>A. longifolia</i> (Donnelly, 1992), and it is well established there and successfully controlling its host, in combination with the galling pteromalid wasp <i>Trichilogaster acaciaelongifoliae</i> (Froggatt) (Dennill <i>et al</i>., 1999; Impson <i>et al</i>., 2011). Specimens in the ANIC have also been reared from seeds of <i>A. longissima</i> and <i>A. oxycedrus</i> and collected on <i>A. ulicifolia</i>, <i>A. floribunda</i> and <i>A. mabellae</i> (Table 1), but the last two records are unlikely to represent true host associations (Table 2). We collected several specimens from <i>A. obtusifolia</i>, <i>A. spectabilis</i> and <i>A. ulicifolia</i>, which appear to be additional hosts for the species (Tables 1, 2).
The <i>M. ventralis</i> group The males of this group have the posterior margin of ve... more The <i>M. ventralis</i> group The males of this group have the posterior margin of ventrite 1 produced caudad into a gentle, short, broad lobe and the median area of ventrites 3–5 covered with longer, dens and erect setae. Besides <i>M. ventralis</i> Lea, 1899, also <i>M. cardiopterus</i> Lea, 1913 and <i>M. parvidens</i> Lea, 1899 appear to belong in it. Definite host records are only known for <i>M. ventralis</i>.
The <i>M. costatus</i> group This group may be characterised by the presence of consp... more The <i>M. costatus</i> group This group may be characterised by the presence of conspicuous, pale but more or less unicolorous scales on the elytra, which are distributed in irregular clusters or bands on the interstriae, and a normally placed uncus on the pro- and mesotibiae of the females. It includes the two species described by Lea (1899) in <i>Melanteriosoma</i>, <i>M. costatus</i> and <i>M. inconspicuus</i>, as well as <i>M</i>. <i>aberrans</i> Lea, 1899, <i>M. arenaceus</i> Lea, 1928, <i>M. costipennis</i> Lea, 1905, <i>M. lamellatus</i> Lea, 1913, <i>M. rufus</i> Lea, 1928, <i>M. squamipennis</i> Lea, 1928, <i>M. tibialis</i> Lea, 1928 and <i>M. vinosus</i> Pascoe, 1872, and we here describe two new ones in it, <i>M. psittacoides</i> <b>sp. n.</b> and <i>M. pungalinae</i> <b>sp. n...
FIGURES 44 – 47. Dorsal view of habitus and aedeagi of Melanterius semiporcatus Erichson and M. v... more FIGURES 44 – 47. Dorsal view of habitus and aedeagi of Melanterius semiporcatus Erichson and M. ventralis Lea. 44 – 45: M. semiporcatus; 44: male (Queensland); 45: aedeagus (Queensland, Texas). 46 – 47: M. ventralis; 46: male (South Africa, Belvedere); 47: adeagus (South Africa, Belvedere).
FIGURES 24 – 27. Dorsal view of habitus and aedeagi of Melanterius servulus Pascoe and M. costatu... more FIGURES 24 – 27. Dorsal view of habitus and aedeagi of Melanterius servulus Pascoe and M. costatus (Lea). 24 – 25: M. servulus; 24: male (South Africa, De Hoop); 25: aedeagus (Western Australia, Lort River). 26 – 27: M. costatus; 26: male (New South Wales, Bemboka); 27: adeagus (Queensland, Girraween NP).
<i>Melanterius</i> sp. near <i>M. acaciae</i> In the ANIC there are two f... more <i>Melanterius</i> sp. near <i>M. acaciae</i> In the ANIC there are two females of an undescribed species similar to <i>M. acaciae</i> but larger and differing in setation and the shape of the rostrum, legs and unci, labelled as found feeding on <i>Acacia subulata</i> (Table 1). In want of more material, especially males, we do not describe this species here.
<i>Melanterius semiporcatus</i> Erichson, 1842 (Figs. 44–45) <i>Melanterius sem... more <i>Melanterius semiporcatus</i> Erichson, 1842 (Figs. 44–45) <i>Melanterius semiporcatus</i> W. F. Erichson, 1842: 210 The origin of <i>M. semiporcatus</i> was only given as "Neuholland" by its author; the type was evidently not taken in Tasmania but may have been from South Australia or Victoria. The distribution of the species extends through New South Wales into northern Queensland, but some specimens from Queensland differ in their male genitalia and <i>M. semiporcatus</i> in the traditional sense also is a complex of cryptic species. The true <i>M. semiporcatus</i> (specimens from south-eastern Australia) differ from <i>M. porcatus</i> in having larger punctures on the prothorax and elytra, the elytral interstriae as thin to faint, strongly undulating lines, the procoxae contiguous and, in the male, a conspicuous Ʌ-shaped field of pale, erect setae on the metaventrite. The penis (Fig. 45) is thickly, evenly subcylindrical with a truncate, medially unsclerotised and notched apex and a large, complex pair of symmetrical endophallic sclerites, consisting of distal lyre-shaped and a basal thickly H-shaped part. A similar male from Brisbane in the ANIC has the distal part of the endophallic sclerite larger, caliper-like, and the basal part shorter and broadly fused in the middle, and a male from north-western Queensland (Boodjamulla National Park) has the basal part of the sclerite longer and not medially joined to form an H. Both evidently represent different, undescribed species. Lea (1899) reported collecting specimens of <i>M. semiporcatus</i> at night on a newly debarked <i>Eucalyptus</i> tree, seemingly at Tamworth, but this record is unlikely to represent a true host association. We did not collect any specimens of this species.
A 3D reconstruction of a Granary Weevil [Sitophilus granarius] generated from an optical scanning... more A 3D reconstruction of a Granary Weevil [Sitophilus granarius] generated from an optical scanning rig. The Granary Weevil model was reconstructed from 4464 images of 18MP, each taken from 144 views, each view with 31 multi-focus images. Number of vertices is 129,533; and number of faces is 259,068. The dimension of the 3D model is in mm and the physical length of the original specimen is approximately 3.7mm. This collection contains 4 files: * A PNG thumbnail of the model * An X3D file containing the model * A PLY file containing same the model * A JPG texture for the model
FIGURES 54 – 58. Melanterius curvistriatus sp. n. 54: holotype, male, dorsal habitus (Northern Te... more FIGURES 54 – 58. Melanterius curvistriatus sp. n. 54: holotype, male, dorsal habitus (Northern Territory, Pungalina, Lake Jabiru); 55: holotype, male, lateral habitus; 56: holotype, male, elytra showing curved striae 2 – 4 (arrows pointing at bend of striae 3); 57: male genitalia (Northern Territory, Pungalina, Mystery Shovel); a, aedeagus, lateral view, b, aedeagus dorsal view, C, sternite IX, dorsal view; 58: spermatheca (Northern Territory, Pungalina, Mystery Shovel).
<i>Melanterius oleosus</i> Lea, 1928 (Figs. 63–64) <i>Melanterius oleosus</i... more <i>Melanterius oleosus</i> Lea, 1928 (Figs. 63–64) <i>Melanterius oleosus</i> Lea, 1928: 121 This species was described from Sea Lake in northern Victoria and is also recorded from South Australia (Lea, 1928). In the ANIC there is a specimen from Gol Gol in New South Wales (near Mildura), and we collected a single female in southern Queensland. The species is recognisable mainly by its elongate, sometimes partially confluent pronotal punctures. The body of the penis (Fig. 64) is long and narrow, with a broadly rounded apex, a pair of small apical internal sclerites and a pair of long ones at the base. No hosts have been recorded for it, but the fact that we collected it on an <i>Acacia conferta</i> shrub with green pods (Table 1) suggests that its larvae may develop on the seeds of this plant species (Table 2).
The <i>M. latipennis</i> group The members of this group also have the dorsal vestitu... more The <i>M. latipennis</i> group The members of this group also have the dorsal vestiture consisting of only minute and very sparse setae, but their procoxae are separated by a distinct, flat septum and the mesoventrite is usually flat to shallowly concave, not anteriorly raised (allowing the rostrum to be retracted deeper between the mesocoxae). This group includes species such as <i>M. aratus</i> Pascoe, 1885, <i>M. baridioides</i> Lea, 1913, <i>M. bicalcaratus</i> Lea, 1913, <i>M. elusus</i> (Casey, 1892), <i>M. interstitialis</i> Lea, 1899, <i>M. latipennis</i> Lea, 1928, <i>M. legitimus</i> Lea, 1909, <i>M. maestus</i> Lea, 1913, <i>M. oleosus</i> Lea, 1928, <i>M. semiporosus</i> Lea, 1908 and <i>M. solitus</i> Lea, 1899. Host records were previously available only for <i>M. latipennis</i>.
<i>Melanterius curvistriatus</i> sp. n. (Figs. 54–58) <b>Description. Size:<... more <i>Melanterius curvistriatus</i> sp. n. (Figs. 54–58) <b>Description. Size:</b> length 2.1–2.8 mm in male, 2.2–2.9 mm in female; width 0.9–1.2 mm in male, 1.0– 1.3 mm in female. <b>Colour and vestiture:</b> body dark reddish-brown, pronotum darker than elytra; head, pronotum and elytra sparsely clothed with small, pale, truncate hair-scales, legs with similar hair-scales but slightly denser. <b>Head</b> with dense, large, shallow punctures, vertex strongly shagreened. Eyes large, slightly convex but not protruding, dorsally in middle of their length separated by slightly more than width of rostrum at base. <b>Rostrum</b> robust, about 1.2x longer than prothorax in both sexes; moderately downcurved, dorsally continuous in outline with head in profile; dorsally with large, confluent punctures forming irregular short grooves in proximal two-thirds in male, about one-fifth in female, distal part glabrous with sparse, much smaller, finely setiferous punctures. <b>Antennae</b> inserted in apical quarter of rostrum in male, just before middle in female; with funicle 1.2x longer than scape, funicle segment 1 and 2 subequal, each about as long as 2+3, club 2.0x longer than wide in middle. <b>Prothorax</b> trapezoidal in outline, at apex 0.6x as wide as at base, length along midline 0.75x of width at base; pronotum densely punctate, punctures moderately sized, oval, shallow, each in posterior wall carrying a pale hair-scale curved anteriad and just exceeding anterior margin of puncture. <b>Elytra</b> 3.25x longer than pronotum, at base as wide as pronotum but across humeri ca. 1.35x wider; striae deep, with elongate, confluent punctures; interstriae broad, convex to subcostate on disc but bluntly costate on sides and declivity, surface rugulose, all with irregular row of short fine silvery-white setae on either side of midline (costa); striae 2–4 and interstriae 3–4 distinctly curved outwards at basal one-fifth of length, interstriae 4 there with distinct elongate callus (Fig. 56). <b>Metanepisterna</b> with a single row o [...]
<i>Melanterius costatus</i> (Lea, 1899) (Figs. 26–27) <i>Melanteriosoma costatu... more <i>Melanterius costatus</i> (Lea, 1899) (Figs. 26–27) <i>Melanteriosoma costatum</i> Lea, 1899: 267 <i>Melanterius uniseriatus</i> Lea, 1899: 245; Pullen <i>et al</i>., 2014: 227 (syn.) This short, stocky species was described from Sydney and occurs more widely in New South Wales and into southern Queensland, but it appears to be uncommon. It is characterised by having the elytral interstriae 3 and 5 sharply and conspicuously costate and an irregular row of black setae on either side of the median elytral ridge, together forming a chevron pattern. It also has a distinct, high, oblique carina on either side of the disc of the metaventrite, stretching between the middle of the meso- and metacoxae, but it shares this feature with <i>M. inconspicuus</i> (see below). Lea (1909) described an alleged subspecies of it from Tasmania, as <i>Melanteriosoma costatum</i> var. <i>tasmaniense</i>, but this does not possess the carina between the meso- and metacoxae and also differs in some other characters and is here treated as a distinct species (see below). The penises of these three species also differ, the body in <i>M. costatus</i> (Fig. 27) having straight sides and a broadly, evenly rounded apex. The synonymy of <i>Melanterius uniseriatus</i> with <i>M. costatus</i> was proposed by E. C. Zimmerman in his manuscript on <i>Melanterius</i> but only published by Pullen <i>et al</i>. (2014); the unique but damaged type of <i>uniseriatus</i> (abdomen missing and head glued separately on the card of the specimen), in Lea's collection, needs re-examination though as a female identified by Lea as <i>M. uniseriatus</i>, from Ferguson's collection and now in the ANIC, is conspecific with <i>M. inconspicuus</i> (below). No hosts have been recorded for <i>M. costatus</i>. Four specimens in the ANIC are labelled as having been collected on <i>Acacia irrorata</i>, and we collected it on this species, too, and on an unidentified <i>Acacia</i> species.
<i>Melanterius servulus</i> Pascoe, 1872 (Figs. 7–8, 13, 24–25) <i>Melanterius ... more <i>Melanterius servulus</i> Pascoe, 1872 (Figs. 7–8, 13, 24–25) <i>Melanterius servulus</i> Pascoe, 1872: 142 This species was described from King George's Sound (Albany) and is seemingly restricted to south-western Western Australia. It is similar to <i>M. maculatus</i> in being reddish-brown and carrying broad setae, but it is a larger and broader species. It also differs from <i>M. maculatus</i> in that the elytral interstriae 2 and 4 are elevated and costate on the declivity like the adjacent odd-numbered ones (Fig. 13) and in that the depression of the apical abdominal ventrite is very broad and transverse and flanked on either side by a large seta (a much smaller seta in <i>M. maculatus</i>). The female may further be distinguished from that of <i>M. maculatus</i> by its tibial uncus forming an angle with the tibial edge (Fig. 8), and the male has a diagnostic penis (Fig. 25) with broadly truncate apex and a pair of large, flat, caliper-like apical sclerites. <i>Melanterius servulus</i> was first reared from the seeds of <i>Acacia saligna</i> (as <i>A. cyanophylla</i>) in 1970 at Borden by S. Neser and subsequently from seeds of <i>Acacia cyclops</i> in 1975 in the Esperance area by M. van den Berg (van den Berg, 1980) and from seeds of <i>Paraserianthes lophanta</i> in 1984 and 1985 in the Albany area by M. Morris and G. Dennill. It was released in South Africa in 1989 against <i>P. lophanta</i> and in 1991 and 1994 against <i>A. cyclops</i>, but both " types " (referred to as B and A, respectively) established only slowly (Donnelly, 1992; Dennill <i>et al</i>. 1999, Schmidt <i>et al</i>., 1999; Impson <i>et al</i>., 2011). The two types are reported to display behavioural differences on their respective hosts (Dennill <i>et al</i>., 1999), but a detailed morphological study (Oberprieler &amp; Zimmerman, 2001) and a molecular analysis (Clarke, 2002) could detect no taxonomic or genetic differences between them. Although definite host records for <i>M. servulus</i> from Australia are limited to <i>A. cyclop [...]
<i>Melanterius antennalis</i> Lea, 1899 (Figs. 17–19) <i>Melanterius antennalis... more <i>Melanterius antennalis</i> Lea, 1899 (Figs. 17–19) <i>Melanterius antennalis</i> Lea, 1899: 226 This species was described from Gosford in New South Wales and is thus far only known from this state. It is easily recognisable by its short, straight, ventrally flat and expanded rostrum, the underside forming a long, curved flange beneath each antennal insertion (Fig. 18). This condition occurs in both sexes, but the females are readily recognisable by the position of the unci on the pro- and mesotibiae. The penis (Fig. 19) has a slightly broader body than that of <i>M. acaciae</i> but simpler endophallic sclerites, especially the basal pair. No host association is recorded for the species. Three specimens in the ANIC are labelled as having been collected on <i>Acacia mearnsii</i>, and we also collected it from this plant species as well as from <i>A. dealbata</i>, <i>A. decurrens</i>, <i>A. filicifolia</i>, <i>A. fimbriata</i>, <i>A. floribunda, A. irrorata</i>, <i>A. longifolia</i>, <i>A. mabellae</i>, <i>A. terminalis</i> and <i>A. trachyphloia</i> (Table 1). Its true host is likely to be among <i>A. filicifolia</i>, <i>A. floribunda</i> and <i>A. irrorata</i> (Table 2).
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Papers by Debbie Jennings