Buprestidae of South Australia
( Jewel beetles )
by Peter J. Lang
Notobubastes costatus   Carter, 1924
subfamily  Buprestinae » tribe  unplaced » subtribe  none
Notobubastes costatus   Adult images
Notobubastes costatus, PL6304, male, on Exocarpos aphyllus, FR, 10.9 × 3.5 mm Notobubastes costatus, PL6304, male, on Exocarpos aphyllus, FR, 10.9 × 3.5 mm Notobubastes costatus, PL6310, female, on Exocarpos aphyllus (PJL 3805) foliage, FR, 13.0 × 4.1 mm Notobubastes costatus, PL6306, female, on Exocarpos aphyllus, FR, 13.2 × 4.4 mm Notobubastes costatus, PL6306, female, on Exocarpos aphyllus, FR, 13.2 × 4.4 mm Notobubastes costatus, PL6304, male, from Exocarpos aphyllus foliage, FR, 10.9 × 3.5 mm Notobubastes costatus, PL6310, female, from Exocarpos aphyllus (PJL 3805) foliage, FR, 13.0 × 4.1 mm Notobubastes costatus, NMV T-10703, female, holotype from WA, adapted from original, CC BY 4.0, photo by Lucinda Gibson for Museums Victoria Notobubastes costatus, PL6048, male, dead salt lake specimen, EP, 11.1 × 3.6 mm Notobubastes costatus, PL6304, male, from Exocarpos aphyllus foliage, aedeagus, dorsal and ventral view, FR Notobubastes costatus, PL6304, male, from Exocarpos aphyllus foliage, FR, 10.9 × 3.5 mm Notobubastes costatus, PL6304, male, from Exocarpos aphyllus foliage, FR, 10.9 × 3.5 mm Notobubastes costatus, PL6310, female, from Exocarpos aphyllus foliage (PJL 3805), FR, 13.0 × 4.1 mm Notobubastes costatus, PL6310, female, from Exocarpos aphyllus foliage (PJL 3805), FR, 13.0 × 4.1 mm Notobubastes costatus, PL6304, male, on Exocarpos aphyllus, FR, 10.9 × 3.5 mm Notobubastes costatus, PL6306, female, on Exocarpos aphyllus, FR, 13.2 × 4.4 mm Notobubastes costatus, PL6306, female, on Exocarpos aphyllus, FR, 13.2 × 4.4 mm Notobubastes costatus, PL6306, female, on Exocarpos aphyllus, FR, 13.2 × 4.4 mm Notobubastes costatus, PL6310, female, on Exocarpos aphyllus (PJL 3805) foliage, FR, 13.0 × 4.1 mm Notobubastes costatus, PL6310, female, on Exocarpos aphyllus (PJL 3805) foliage, FR, 13.0 × 4.1 mm Notobubastes costatus, PL6310, female, on Exocarpos aphyllus (PJL 3805) foliage, FR, 13.0 × 4.1 mm Notobubastes costatus, PL6309, adult host plant, Exocarpos aphyllus (PJL 3805), FR, photo by A.M.P. Stolarski
Actual
size¹:
12.1 mm
×
3.9 mm
Measurements (mm)
malefemale
L111.0
10.9 – 11.1
 n = 213.1
13 – 13.2
 n = 2
L210.8
10.65 – 10.95
 n = 212.8
12.7 – 12.95
 n = 2
W3.5
3.45 – 3.6
 n = 24.2
4.1 – 4.35
 n = 2
Legend  L1length from clypeus/frons to elytral apex (mean, range, sample size)
L2length from anterior of edge of eyes to elytral apex
Wmaximum width with elytra fully closed
Notobubastes costatus  Distinctive features

Elytra prominently ribbed and each strongly trispinose at the apex; a rounded pronotum markedly narrower than the elytra at its base; elongate body shape; bronze with golden to coppery reflections.

Notes

Until recently, the only recorded occurrences of Notobubastes costatus in SA were from dead salt lake specimens (more than 12) collected at a single location on north-eastern Eyre Peninsula. The first reported record of a live adult in SA was made on 8 January 2025, when I observed one on the upper foliage of a Leafless Cherry Exocarpos aphyllus near Quorn in the Southern Flinders Ranges. A specimen was collected at the site on the following day by Alex Stolarski.

An occurrence on Googs track in the far west of the EP Region is based on a tentative identification of larvae that Alex and I extracted there in November 2022.

Distribution
SA Regions¹:  EP,  FR
Australian States:  WA,  SA
Southern South Australian occurrences
LegendP.J.Lang collection vouchered records
other private collection or museum specimens, or sightings
Satellite map
Terrain map
Enlarge map
Adult activity records for Notobubastes costatus  (total actual records: 3 beetles)
1 2
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 > 1.5 (mean)
actual count <= 1.5 (mean)
Adult host plant
beetles sites SA regions¹ family position on host plant
Exocarpos aphyllus32FRS
Legendbeetlescount of beetles collected from, or sighted on, host plant taxon
sitescount 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.
Plant family
Code beetles % host plant taxa
S Santalaceae 3 100% 1
Position on adult host
positionbeetlessites
on foliage or non-flowering plant32
Notobubastes costatus Breeding record images
Notobubastes costatus, PL5676C, larva, in Exocarpos aphyllus (PJL 3611) stem, EP, 27.5 × 3.9 mm Notobubastes costatus, PL5676C, larva, in Exocarpos aphyllus (PJL 3611) stem, EP, 27.5 × 3.9 mm Notobubastes costatus, PL5676C, larva, in Exocarpos aphyllus (PJL 3611) stem, EP, 27.5 × 3.9 mm Notobubastes costatus, PL5676C, larva, in Exocarpos aphyllus (PJL 3611) stem, EP, 27.5 × 3.9 mm Notobubastes costatus, PL5676, larva, in Exocarpos aphyllus (PJL 3611) stem, EP, photo by A.M.P. Stolarski Notobubastes costatus, PL5676C, larval host plant, Exocarpos aphyllus (PJL 3611), EP, 27.5 × 3.9 mm Notobubastes costatus, PL5676C, larval host plant, Exocarpos aphyllus (PJL 3611), in atypical sand dune habitat, EP, 27.5 × 3.9 mm Notobubastes costatus, PL5676C, larval host plant, Exocarpos aphyllus (PJL 3611), probable old exit hole, EP, 27.5 × 3.9 mm
Larval host plant
records sites SA regions¹ family larva
Exocarpos aphyllus41EPS4
Legendrecordscount of breeding adults, pupae and larvae
sitescount of major sites (unique 10 km grid cells +/- some distinct approximate localities)
adultlive = 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
pupaextracted pupa;   pupa ex larva = reared pupa from larva
larvaextracted 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.
Plant family
Code records % host plant taxa
S Santalaceae 4 100% 1
Position in larval host
positionrecordssiteslarva
stem414
Host plant notes

The three live specimens illustrated here were obtained from Leafless Cherry Exocarpos aphyllus 'foliage' where they were seen sitting parallel on branchlets within the upper canopy of the bushes.

In November 2022, A.M.P. Stolarski and I extracted four larvae from tunnels in the lower stems of an E. aphyllus bush in the Yumbarra Conservation Park section of Googs Track. The largest of these was 27.5 mm long. While not yet confirmed by DNA sequencing and/or adult-larvae concurrences, they have been tentatively identified as N. costatus, supported by strong morphological similarities to the larvae of Microcastalia globithorax q.v. which is in a closely related genus.

In WA N. costatus has been reared by M. Powell from billets of E. aphyllus with emergence on 23 Jan 2017, and adults have been collected from the foliage the same species (T.M.S. Hanlon, pers. comm., Jul 2020). Exocarpos aphyllus is widespread in SA and is present in the area where the SA dead specimens were collected.

¹ LegendregionsSA 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
sizeThe ellipse is the correct size when printed, indicative on a desktop screen, and likely to be wrong on a mobile device.