Reddish-brown above and below with coppery reflections (the 'metallic scintillations' of Carter 1924b) in the puncta and elsewhere. Also differs from M. globithorax in the pronotum being more convex above and the elytra having more pronounced ribs with coarser puncta between them and the apices more acutely trispinose.
Previously placed in other genera by Carter, this Western Australian species was transferred to Microcastalia by Bellamy & Peterson 2000. It has only recently been recognised as occurring in SA (Lang & Stolarski 2020) and is known here by a series of dead specimens collected by P. Hudson from 1998 to 2006 in the strand deposit of an Eyre Peninsula salt lake. The first live specimen was collected on a branch of a young Western Myall (Acacia papyrocarpa) 106 km NNE of this site in December 2008 by M.A. Hura and is illustrated above. It reveals that this species, when fresh, has the same white powdery excrescence in the puncta and other declivities as found on M. globithorax.
| Legend | P.J.Lang collection vouchered records | |
| other private collection or museum specimens, or sightings |
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| Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
| Legend | live emerged adults, count > median value of 1 per quarter month | |
| live emerged adults, count <= median value of 1 | ||
| live non-emerged adults only, for that quarter month | ||
12 | number of active beetles for that quarter month |
| beetles | sites | SA regions¹ | family | position on host plant | ||
| Acacia papyrocarpa | 1 | 1 | EP | F |
| Legend | beetles | count of beetles collected from, or sighted on, host plant taxon |
| sites | count of major sites (unique 10 km grid cells +/- some distinct approximate localities) |
| Code | beetles | % | host plant taxa | |
| F | Fabaceae | 1 | 100% | 1 |
| position | beetles | sites | ||
| other | ||||
| on branch | 1 | 1 | ||
The single live occurrence on an Acacia branch may be incidental and is regarded as inconclusive.
| ¹ Legend | regions | SA State Herbarium regions (map) EA: Eastern, EP: Eyre Peninsula, FR: Flinders Ranges, GT: Gairdner-Torrens, KI: Kangaroo Island, LE: Lake Eyre, MU: Murray, NL: Northern Lofty, NU: Nullarbor, NW: North-Western, SE: South-Eastern, SL: Southern Lofty, YP: Yorke Peninsula |