Actual
size¹:
size¹:
9.2 mm
×
3.3 mm
×
3.3 mm
| male | female | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L1 | 9.1 | 7.5 – 10.25 | n = 18 | 9.4 | 8 – 10.5 | n = 8 |
| L2 | 8.9 | 7.5 – 10.15 | n = 12 | 9.6 | 9 – 10.35 | n = 4 |
| W | 3.2 | 2.7 – 3.75 | n = 18 | 3.4 | 2.9 – 3.75 | n = 8 |
| Legend | L1 | length from clypeus/frons to elytral apex (mean, range, sample size) |
| L2 | length from anterior of edge of eyes to elytral apex | |
| W | maximum width with elytra fully closed |
Readily distinguished from the sometimes superficially similar M. obscurella by the posterior margin of the pronotum being bi-angulate rather than +/- linear. A distinctive feature of the M. thoracica species-group, which also includes M. aurocyanea, is a zone of long curved hairs on the dorsal posterior margin of the apical tergite (9th dorsal abdominal segment).
This species was widely known as M. nitidiventris prior to being placed in synonymy under M. thoracica by Levey (2012).
Although the type locality was given by Blackburn 1988a as 'South Australia', the single specimen that he captured was most likely from Port Lincoln, as his notebook in the British Museum of Natural History has 'P.L.' against the name (Levey 2012).
| 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 | ||
9 | number of active beetles, actually recorded in that quarter-month | |
| actual count > 3 (median) | ||
| actual count <= 3 (median) | ||
| beetles | sites | SA regions¹ | family | position on host plant | |||||
| Acacia myrtifolia | 23 | 2 | SL | F | |||||
| Acacia pycnantha | 7 | 5 | SL, KI, SE | F | |||||
| Acacia sp. | 6 | 2 | FR, SE | F | |||||
| Leptospermum myrsinoides | 5 | 1 | SL | M | |||||
| Leptospermum sp. | 3 | 3 | SL, SE | M | |||||
| Pultenaea daphnoides | 3 | 1 | SL | F | |||||
| Acacia leiophylla | 2 | 1 | KI | F | |||||
| Acacia microcarpa | 1 | 1 | MU | F | |||||
| Eucalyptus diversifolia ssp. diversifolia | 1 | 1 | SE | M | |||||
| Exocarpos cupressiformis | 1 | 1 | SL | S |
| 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) | |
| Plant names in green are hyperlinked to a matching host species page with plant photos. | ||
| Code | beetles | % | host plant taxa | |
| F | Fabaceae | 42 | 81% | 5 |
| M | Myrtaceae | 9 | 17% | 2 |
| S | Santalaceae | 1 | 2% | 1 |
| position | beetles | sites | ||
| on flower(s) | 3 | 3 | ||
| on flowering plant | 10 | 4 | ||
| on foliage or non-flowering plant | 16 | 6 | ||
| on plant (unspecified) | 13 | 3 | ||
| other | ||||
| on dead trunk | 1 | 1 | ||
| on stem | 1 | 1 | ||
| on stems | 8 | 1 | ||
| colour | beetles | sites | SA regions¹ | |
| orange | 4 | 2 | SE | |
| red | 2 | 2 | SE | |
| bright green | 1 | 1 | SE |
| 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 |
| size | The ellipse is the correct size when printed, indicative on a desktop screen, and likely to be wrong on a mobile device. |