, EP, A7.5_x300.jpg "Melobasis vittata, SAMA 25-50503, male, from Acacia anceps (BS1290-722), 8.4 x 3.0 mm, EP, 19.9 km WSW Nundroo, Wahgunyah CP, 29 Nov 2021, 8.4 × 3.0 mm")
Actual
size¹:
size¹:
7.2 mm
×
2.9 mm
×
2.9 mm
| male | female | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L1 | 8.3 | 7.1 – 9.75 | n = 15 | 5.6 | 4 – 9.9 | n = 10 |
| L2 | 8.5 | 7.55 – 9.6 | n = 3 | 4.6 | 3.9 – 9.75 | n = 8 |
| W | 3.0 | 2.5 – 3.6 | n = 15 | 2.8 | 1.65 – 9.55 | n = 10 |
| 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 |
| 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 > 2 (median) | ||
| actual count <= 2 (median) | ||
| beetles | sites | SA regions¹ | family | position on host plant | |||
| Acacia pycnantha | 12 | 7 | FR, EP, MU, SL, KI | F | |||
| Acacia retinodes | 9 | 5 | MU, SL | F | |||
| Acacia uncifolia | 5 | 2 | SL, KI | F | |||
| Exocarpos cupressiformis | 2 | 2 | SL | S | |||
| Acacia anceps | 1 | 1 | EP | F | |||
| Acacia leiophylla | 1 | 1 | KI | F | |||
| Acacia sp. Winged (C.R.Alcock 4936) | 1 | 1 | YP | F | |||
| Allocasuarina verticillata | 1 | 1 | SL | C | |||
| Amyema miquelii | 1 | 1 | SL | L | |||
| Bursaria spinosa ssp. spinosa | 1 | 1 | KI | P | |||
| Santalum acuminatum | 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 | 28 | 82% | 5 |
| S | Santalaceae | 3 | 9% | 2 |
| C | Casuarinaceae | 1 | 3% | 1 |
| L | Loranthaceae | 1 | 3% | 1 |
| P | Pittosporaceae | 1 | 3% | 1 |
| position | beetles | sites | |
| on flower(s) | 1 | 1 | |
| on flowering plant | 4 | 3 | |
| on foliage or non-flowering plant | 28 | 13 | |
| on plant (unspecified) | 2 | 2 |
| records | sites | SA regions¹ | family | adult ex billet | |
| *Acacia notabilis | 1 | 1 | SL | F | 1 |
| Acacia retinodes | 1 | 1 | MU | F | 1 |
| Legend | records | count of breeding adults, pupae and larvae |
| sites | count of major sites (unique 10 km grid cells +/- some distinct approximate localities) | |
| * | indicates alien (non-native) plant occurrences, either wild or planted (the species may be alien in SA, or native in parts of its SA range) | |
| adult | live = extracted alive; dead = extracted dead as intact or fragmentary remains; ex billet = reared and emerged from stored sections of host; ex pupa = reared from sampled pupa | |
| pupa | extracted pupa; pupa ex larva = reared pupa from larva | |
| larva | extracted larva (any stage including prepupa) | |
| gall (only) | hatched or unhatched gall identified by form and position rather than contents | |
| Plant names in green are hyperlinked to a matching host species page with plant photos. | ||
| Code | records | % | host plant taxa | |
| F | Fabaceae | 2 | 100% | 2 |
| position | records | sites | adult ex billet | |
| dead stem | 2 | 2 | 2 |
I have reared adults of M. vittata from billets cut from dead Acacia branches: one individual from A. retinodes near Rockleigh, and one from a cultivated shrub of Notable Wattle Acacia notabilis at Urrbrae. Turner 2001a reported the first breeding record of this species, with extraction of specimens from a dead shrub of A. chalkeri in NSW. Given its wide distribution and range of adult hosts, it is likely to breed in Golden Wattle A. pycnantha and a range of other Acacia species also.
| 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. |