THE AUSTRALIAN

ntomologist

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THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF QUEENSLAND

Volume 37, Part 4, 20 November 2010

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THE AUSTRALIAN ENTOMOLOGIST

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Cover: This undescribed species of Myrmecoroides (Heteroptera: Miridae) is about 5

mm in length and occurs along the Great Dividing Range from southeast Queensland

to Victoria. It is found on native grasses. The species is sexually dimorphic, with fully

-winged males and short-winged females (illustrated here).

All species of Myrmecoroides are strongly ant-mimetic. This species is being described

by Gerry Cassis of the University of New South Wales and Michael Wall of the San

Diego Natural History Museum.

Illustration by Hannah Finlay.

Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4):129-136 129

THE EARLY STAGES OF EUPLOEA TULLIOLUS TULLIOLUS

(FABRICIUS) (LEPIDOPTERA: NYMPHALIDAE: DANAINAE)

FROM BRISBANE, QUEENSLAND

TREVOR A. LAMBKIN

Agri-Science Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation,

665 Fairfield Road, Yeerongpilly, Qld 4105, Trevor.Lambkin@deedi.qld.gov.au

© The State of Queensland (through Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation)

Abstract

The early stages of Euploea tulliolus tulliolus (Fabricius, 1793) (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae:

Danainae) are fully described and illustrated for the first time from material collected at Taigum,

a northern suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Development time from eggs collected in the field to

adults in March in Brisbane was around 17 days. These adult progeny remained active over

winter but females did not commence ovipositing until September of that year. An interesting

feature of the life history is the distinctive smoky grey-white colour phase of the ultimate larva

prior to pre-pupation. Within Brisbane the species occurs sporadically and is generally confined

to remnant riparian forest along major creeks that crisscross the suburbs. In these habitats the

species can be locally “common”. The smoky grey-white colour phase recorded here for the

ultimate larva of E. t. tulliolus could be a diagnostic feature of all Euploea Fabricius, 1807

species within the “tulliolus-eomplex” and might also be a diagnostic feature of other Euploea

species groups.

Introduction

Within the Danainae, Euploea Fabricius, 1807 (crow butterflies) is the largest

genus with at least 54 known species of essentially tropical distribution in the

Oriental and Australian regions (Ackery & Vane-Wright 1984, Scheermeyer

1999). The greatest diversity of Euploea occurs within the Indo-Australian

region (Corbet & Pendlebury 1992, Ackery & Vane-Wright 1984, Parsons

1998), especially on Java, Sumatra and in northern New Guinea

(Scheermeyer 1999). On the Australian mainland Euploea diversity is

relatively meagre with only E. core corinna (WS Macleay, 1827) and E.

tulliolus tulliolus (Fabricius, 1793) extending beyond the tropics. Apart from

these two species, all other Australian Euploea are restricted to the tropical

north: Queensland including Torres Strait, the Northern Territory, and

Kununurra in Western Australia (Braby 2000). Despite the popularity of

Australian Euploea spp. among professional entomologists (e.g. Scheermeyer

and Zalucki 1985, Daglish et al. 1986, Scheermeyer 1999, Rahman and

Zalucki 1999, Canzano ef al. 2003, Braby 2009) and butterfly enthusiasts

(e.g. Hendry 2010, Moss 2010, M. De Baar pers. comm.), the majority of

their life histories in Australia are still poorly known, with the exception

being E. c. corinna (Scheermeyer 1999, Braby 2000). The immature stages of

a number of Australian Euploea taxa have recently been reported (Meyer

1996, 1997; Lambkin 2001; Braby 2009) but despite this, only the original

short description of the early stages of E. t. tulliolus exists (Manski 1939),

even though it is our second most widely distributed and frequently observed

Euploea species (Scheermeyer 1999). All subsequent references to the life

130 Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4)

stages of E. t. tulliolus (Common and Waterhouse 1972, 1981, Braby 2000)

are based on this 1939 description.

Euploea tulliolus (Fabricius, 1793) is widespread from Taiwan and southern

China, through the Malay Peninsula, the Philippines, Sumatra, Borneo, Java,

Sumba, Sumbawa, Flores and New Guinea, eastwards to Vanuatu and Fiji

and south to coastal eastern Australia (Ackery and Vane-Wright 1984,

Parsons 1998, Braby 2000). It appears to be absent from Timor, Sulawesi,

and the eastern Lesser Sunda Islands (Lambkin and Knight 2007). Morishita

(1985) provided a comprehensive map indicating the distribution of the 35

named subspecies of E. tulliolus. In their sub-division of Euploea, Ackery

and Vane-Wright (1984) placed E. tulliolus, together with E. hewitsonii

Felder & Felder, 1865 (from Celebes and its vicinity), E. stephensii C. Felder

& R. Felder, 1865 (from New Guinea, Moluccas and Bismarcks) and E.

darchia (Macleay, 1827) (from Timor and Tanimbar groups, Kai and

northern Australia) (Morishita 1985), into a ‘tulliolus-complex’ which they

tentatively classed as a ‘clade’ (or more correctly as an “informal group’ as

per the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, ICZN Code).

Ackery and Vane-Wright (1984) admitted that their assemblage of the four

taxa into the complex was poorly characterised and the only significant

feature of the group that they could determine was perhaps its unique

exploitation of Trophis (Malaisia) scandens (Lour.) Hook. & Arn.

(Moraceae) as a larval host plant (Manski 1939, Meyer 1996, Parsons 1998,

Morishita 1985). Furthermore, Ackery and Vane-Wright (1984) indicated

that prudence was required even when dealing with the taxonomy of the

many races of E. tulliolus. They suggested that due to morphological and

ecological differences between several races from different regions within the

species’ range, E. tulliolus likely comprised a cryptic species complex.

In Australia, E. t. tulliolus has a patchy distribution along the east coast of

Queensland and into northern New South Wales (Braby 2000), including

several islands of Torres Strait where it is replaced on some islands by the

race E. t. dudgeonis (Grose-Smith, 1894) (Lambkin and Knight 2007).

Lambkin and Knight (2007) presented information on island populations of

E. tulliolus in Torres Strait and provided some data that in part supported the

‘species complex’ premise of Ackery and Vane-Wright (1984). Based on this

evidence, it may be likely that E. t. tulliolus could be a separate taxonomic

entity to some of its close congeners to the north of Australia. Because of the

need to better define this taxon and the paucity of recorded life history

information for E. t. tulliolus (Manski 1939), its life history is here described

and illustrated from Brisbane, Queensland. In addition, its occurrence,

frequency and seasonality within the Brisbane district are described.

Materials and methods

A search was carried out for immature stages of E. t. tulliolus in March, 2009

along Cabbage Tree Creek at Taigum, a northern suburb of Brisbane

Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4) 131

(279 20' S, 1429 32' E). Overall the immature stages were difficult to find, but

were all located on fresh growing tips of the host plant growing in riparian

vegetation. The early stages (three eggs and one larva) were transported to,

and reared in Brisbane at ambient conditions in clear plastic round food

containers (280ml; 50mm high, bottom radius 42.4mm, top radius 55mm).

Larvae were fed daily on fresh host plant stored in the refrigerator. Four adult

butterflies were reared from these immature stages.

Results

Host plant

Trophis scandens (Lour.) Hook. & Arn. (Moraceae): as originally reported by

Manski (1939) (as Malaisia scandens).

Early stages

Egg: (Fig. 1) (n=4); bullet-shaped; yellow, surface with outlines of circular

concave dimples (at least 13 high), each dimple bordered by prominent

vertical columns and conspicuous horizontal rows.

First instar larva: (Fig. 2) (n=4); head black; body smooth and cylindrical,

semitranslucent, green except for abdominal segments 7 and 8 which are

yellow; anal tip black; a pair of slightly raised protuberances same colour as

the body on mesothorax, metathorax and abdominal segment 8; bases of legs

and prolegs yellow; legs and prolegs black.

Second instar larva: (Fig. 3) (n=4); head black; body smooth and cylindrical,

yellow, dorsal and sub-dorsal areas of all segments with suffused black, sub-

cuticular colouration and faint white, transverse bands; anal tip black; a pair

of blunt, black filaments on mesothorax, metathorax and abdominal segment

8; all filaments shorter than width of body; bases of legs and prolegs same as

body colour; legs and prolegs black.

Third instar larva: (Fig. 4) (n=4); head black with narrow white facial-

perimeter band; body smooth, cylindrical; basal, lateral areas including

segment 1 of mesothorax and anal segment greenish-yellow, with dorsal and

sub-dorsal areas from mesothorax to abdominal segment 8 grey; spiracles

small and grey except for pair on mesothorax which are black; mesothorax,

metathorax and each abdominal segment with one entire white transverse

band, and a series of three, mostly faint, white, predominantly dorsal

transverse bands continuing down on the ventral sides about half the width of

the body, with a shorter white, predominantly dorsal, intermittently-broken

transverse band roughly in the middle of each segment; at the base of the

entire transverse, white bands is an unbroken faint, lateral white undulating

stripe just below spiracles; anal segment with some faint black and white

transverse bands; anal tip black; a pair of blunt, black filaments on

mesothorax, metathorax and abdominal segment 8; filaments on mesothorax

equal to the width of the body with filaments on metathorax and abdominal

132 Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4)

ZD i

A

A i „

i

Figs 1-8. Early stages of Euploea tulliolus tulliolus: (1) egg (height 1

mm); (2) 1st instar larva (length 4 mm); (3) 2nd instar larva (9 mm); (4) 3rd

instar larva (15 mm); (5) 4th instar larva (24 mm); (6) 5th instar larva (31

mm); (7) 5th instar ‘smoky grey-white form” larva (30 mm); (8) pupa (height

19 mm).

Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4) 133

segment 8 shorter than body width; ventral surface including legs and prolegs

grey-black.

Fourth instar larva: (Fig. 5) (n=4); similar to third instar except head black

with some white facial markings; body slightly glossy; dorsal white

transverse bands and unbroken lateral, white undulating stripe brighter;

ventral surface including legs and prolegs black.

Fifth instar larva: (Figs 6, 7) (n=4); similar to fourth instar except white

markings on head broader; body matt, yellow, with dorsal and sub-dorsal

areas from mesothorax to abdominal segment 8 purplish black; white

transverse bands more prominent on all segments; very prominent,

undulating, lateral white stripe; spiracles black and prominent; the length of

filaments on mesothorax about twice the width of the body; other two pairs of

filaments approximately equal to the width of the body; ultimately turning

smoky grey-white in colour prior to the formation of the pre-pupa.

Pupa: (Fig. 8) (n=4); entirely amber at first; after two days head and eyes,

thorax, wing cases, abdomen and spiracles changing to shining silver;

antennae brown, with buff markings on abdomen and wing-cases.

Biological observations

Eggs were found at various heights above the ground (from near ground level

to 5m) on juvenile foliage of the host plant, especially on the newly flushed

growing buds. Early instar larvae fed exclusively on this juvenile foliage,

older larvae preferring soft, fully developed leaves. Early instars severed

veins on young leaves in an arc formation prior to eating the isolated distal

section of the leaf. Larger larvae severed the leaf midrib before consuming

whole soft leaves. This larval vein-cutting behaviour is well known within

the Danainae (Clarke and Zalucki 2000). Larvae did not feed on hardened

mature leaves, including foliage that had started to harden. Fully grown

larvae predominantly rested under mature leaves of the host plant when not

feeding. An interesting observation was the distinctive smoky grey-white

colour phase that the ultimate motile larva adopted just prior to pre-pupation

(Fig. 7). This feature appears to be the very early onset of apolysis, but for all

other well noted final instar larvae of Australian Euploea species (e.g. E. c.

corinna; E. sylvester sylvester (Fabricius, 1793); E. alcathoe misenus Miskin,

1890; E. a. eichhorni Staudinger, 1884; E. algea amycus Miskin, 1890;

unpublished data), apolysis exclusively occurs during the pre-pupal phase,

i.e. once larvae are sedentary and preparing to pupate, not while still motile

as in the case of E. t. tulliolus. In captivity, larvae pupated exclusively on the

undersides of mature leaves of the host plant and it is assumed that these

locations are likely pupation sites in the field. Larvae developed rapidly in

Brisbane during March, with a development time from collected egg to adult

of approximately 17 days. Adults that emerged (in March and April) were

immediately released into a large flight cage (14 x 6 x 4m) in Brisbane

containing potted host plants, and remained active over winter, but females

134 Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4)

did not commence ovipositing until September of the same year, coinciding

with flushes of growth on the host plants. At Taigum, adult butterflies have

been observed throughout summer and autumn. In addition, M. De Baar

(unpublished data) recently recorded adults of E. tulliolus flying in May and

June at Oxley Creek in Sherwood, Brisbane; so it is likely that in Brisbane

the adult butterflies occur all year round (Braby 2000).

Discussion

Euploea t. tulliolus is largely a coastal Queensland taxon occurring in moist

areas often along creeks and rivers where its host plant predominantly grows.

Within its range, which extends to Urunga in northern New South Wales

(Braby 2000), it has a patchy distribution and tends to occur in localised

populations (Scheermeyer 1993, 1999). Scheermeyer (1999) considered E. t.

tulliolus to be “rare” in southern Queensland and New South Wales. Within

the Brisbane district it occurs sporadically, primarily in remnant riparian

forest along some of the major creeks that crisscross the suburbs, and despite

it being locally “common” in this environment, it is not often observed

outside this habitat. Populations tend to be sedentary in these environments

with butterflies tending to loiter, and therefore populations can generally be

found in the same locations year after year. Female butterflies are possibly

only fecund during the wetter months which coincide with the seasonal

availability of the species’ host plant (Scheermeyer 1993, Braby 2000),

particularly when the host is actively growing. As part of this reproductive

strategy, over dry seasons, particularly in drier environments, large numbers

of adults are known to “dry season aggregate” (Scheermeyer 1993).

Only a small sample size was collected (n=4) but of these, larval colouring

and morphology was consistent. All mature larvae developed into a motile

non-feeding, smoky grey-white colour phase prior to pre-pupation. Bascombe

et al. (1999) in Hong Kong reported and illustrated a similar “purple” colour

phase for final instar E. c. amymone (Godart, 1819) just prior to pre-pupation

(Morishita [1985] described it as “rose-red” in colour). In addition, Parsons

(1998) illustrated two Euploea final instar larvae from Papua New Guinea

that resembled this distinctive pre-pupation colour phase of E. t. tulliolus.

One illustration was that of E. phaenareta callithoe Boisduval 1832, but the

other final instar image was unfortunately referred to twice in his text as E. t.

dudgeonis and E. stephensii jamesi (Butler 1876) (but referred to as E.

tulliolus in the plate caption). Despite Parsons” (1998) illustration looking

very similar to the distinctive colour phase of the final instar larva of E. t.

tulliolus from Brisbane described here, his illustration might well be that of

E. s. jamesi, considering that the two species are thought to be closely related

(Ackery & Vane-Wright 1984). Confusion with this particular illustration has

subsequently misled some authors when making comparisons of Euploea

larvae (Moss 2010). Scheermeyer and Zalucki (1985) described a purple

colour morph for final instar E. c. corinna from the drier areas of Queensland

Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4) 135

but they indicated that it was a different final instar colour form, rather than a

colour phase only developing prior to pre-pupation. A. G. Orr (unpublished

data) also recorded a similar final instar colour form for E. So Ao EET

scudderii Butler, 1878 in Borneo.

Finally, the larvae that Parsons (1998) and Bascombe et al. (1999) illustrate

bear a strong overall resemblance to the smoky grey-white ultimate phase of

the larva of E. t. tulliolus recorded here and it might be that a characteristic

feature of some Euploea species groups could be the propensity to develop

through this distinctive colour phase, or a very early commencement of

apolysis, prior to pre-pupation. Accepting the fact that this phenomenon is

unrecorded for E. c. corinna in Australia but is recorded for E. c. amymone

from Hong Kong (Bascombe et al. 1999), this might also add some weight to

the belief that the predominantly Australian taxon, E. c. corinna, might well

be specifically different from other E. core (Cramer) from south east Asia, as

proposed by Morishita (1985) and Braby (2000).

Acknowledgements

I thank R. Kendall of Indooroopilly, Brisbane for allowing the use of his

flight cage during the conduct of this work, and M. De Baar and A. G. Orr for

their unpublished data.

References

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Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4): 137-146 137

ARRHENOCNEMIS PARVIBULLIS SP. NOV. (ODONATA:

PLATYCNEMIDIDAE), A NEW CALICNEMIINE DAMSELFLY

FROM PAPUA NEW GUINEA, WITH A DESCRIPTION OF THE

FEMALE OFA. AMPHIDACTYLIS LIEFTINCK, 1949.

A.G. ORR and 2V.J. KALKMAN

!Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University, Nathan, Qld. 4111, Australia.

2National Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 9517, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands,

vincent.kalkman@ncbnaturalis.nl

Abstract

A new species of damselfly, Arrhenocnemis parvibullis (Odonata: Platycnemididae), from the

Muller Range of Papua New Guinea is described and its habits and habitat discussed. It

represents the third species of this distinctive genus, known from just 16 specimens. The recently

discovered female of A. amphidactylis is described for the frst time.

Introduction

The zygopteran family Platycnemididae is widely distributed in the Old

World. Until recently it was not included in the Australian fauna, but

according to Carle et al. (2008), the protoneurid subfamily Disparoneurinae,

which includes many Australasian representatives, may belong in the

Platycnemididae, and it is thus treated by Theischinger and Endersby (2010).

The subfamily Calicnemiinae however, first recognised by Fraser (1957), has

a more enigmatic distribution. The 21 recognised genera range from tropical

Africa and Madagascar to Sundaland and the Philippines, New Guinea and

the Solomon Islands, but are absent from Sulawesi, the Moluccas and the

Lesser Sunda Islands (Gassmann 2005). The New Guinea and Solomon

Island fauna is believed to have derived from the Philippines, dispersing

along now submerged island arcs from about 25 million years b.p. (van Tol

and Gassmann 2005). The close affinity between the Philippine and New

Guinean representatives is supported by the fact that in the highly speciose

Philippine endemic nominotypic subgenus Risiocnemis, and in nine of the ten

known New Guinea or Solomon Island endemic genera, the wing tip and

distal hind margin of both wings is strongly crenulated, a character unique

among the Odonata.

One of the more distinctive New Guinean genera is Arrhenocnemis Lieftinck,

1933, until recently known from just 10 specimens representing two species,

A. sinuatipennis Lieftinck, 1933, and A. amphidactylis Lieftinck, 1949. In

October-November 2009 one of us (VJK), visited the Muller Range in the

Western Province, Papua New Guinea as part of Conservation International’s

Rapid Assessment Program (RAP). Several Odonata new to science were

collected, including a specimen clearly representing a new species of the

genus Arrhenocnemis, which we describe here, together with notes on its

habitat and habits. In July 2006 and October 2008, during fieldwork of the

Kelompok Entomologi Papua (KEP) and the Universitas Cenderawasih,

Jajapurah (UNCEN) in the Star Mountains in West Papua (Indonesia) VJK

138 Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4)

collected three males and the unknown female of A. amphidactylis (Kalkman

2008), which is also described here for the first time. Terminology follows

Westfall and May (2006), with exception of anal appendages, where we

follow Watson et al. (1991).

Arrhenocnemis parvibullis sp. nov.

(Figs la-h)

Material examined

Holotype G: PAPUA NEW GUINEA, Western Province, CI Muller Range

expedition, Camp 1 (Gugusu), 05° 43.7518, 142° 15.797E, 515 m asl, 04-11 ix 2009,

leg VJ Kalkman; DNA-sample VJK0496, preserved in ethanol, RMNH.

Diagnosis

A small, lightly built damselfly; ground colour dark with bright blue-green

markings on the thorax, anterior part of the head and dorsally at the base of

most abdominal segments. Legs short with sparse, short, robust spines.

Wings with open reticulation; distal margins crenulate. The species can be

identified based on the combination of the following three characters: (1)

distal margin of wings crenulated, (2) tarsi bearing long spines, one pair per

segment, (3) front of synthorax with a pair of small protruberances (i.e.

bullae), see Fig. 1g.

Description

Head: Somewhat elongate in profile. Labium pale ochraceous; medium lobe

with deep ‘U’ shaped incision (Fig. lc), the two lateral projections thus

formed tipped with long setae; apex of lateral lobes and maxilla dark brown.

Labrum bright apple green thinly bordered with dark brown; basally with

small median streak and dark patches at postero-lateral corners. Mandibles

exteriorly bright green with large dark brown spot anteriorly. Clypeus shining

dark brown; surface of postclypeus and ridge between ante- and postclypeus

strongly convex. Genae bright green to just below level of antennal sockets,

the green extending diffusely as thin triangular streaks across anterior part of

frons, not meeting centrally. Green area on genae almost bisected by squarish

dark spot meeting lateral angle of clypeus. Frons matt black, sloping.

Remainder of head matt black; vertex distinctly raised and with prominent

occipital ridge. Antennae (Fig. 1b) with second segment broad and about

same length as first. Eyes moderately small; dark above, apple green beneath.

Thorax: Prothorax: generally lacking strongly defined sculpturing and rather

uniform in profile; dark with bright green makings. Anterior lobe distinctly

raised in profile with well-defined groove delimiting it from median lobe;

dorsally with bright green bar; small rounded anterior processes present at the

lateral corners seen in dorsal view. Median lobe only slightly swollen in

Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4) 139

ne

Fig. 1. Holotype male of Arrhenocnemis parvibullis: (a) metathoracic leg; (b)

antenna; (c) labium detail, ventral view; (d) head and thorax in profile (head

drawn forward slightly to reveal anterior lobe of prothorax); (e) anal

appendages, dorsal view; (f) anal appendages, in profile; (g) head, thorax and

base of abdomen, postero-dorsal view showing bullae on synthorax; (h) left

hindwing.

140 Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4)

profile, but in dorsal view clearly divided into two slightly bulbous postero-

lateral lobes and an anterior depressed, inverted triangular area; laterally with

distinct green marking at ventral margin, divided into three sections,

extending to coxa (Fig. ld). Posterior lobe black; only slightly raised at

posterior margin; in dorsal view margin with two distinct, subapical, shallow

incisions, defining rounded flaps at the lateral extremities of the lobe, only

slightly evident in profile. Synthorax: mesepisternum marked with bright

blue-green, moderately narrow antehumeral band, its anterior part enclosing a

small protruberance (i.e. bulla — Fig. 1g), posteriorly curving gently back to

terminate midway between dorsal carina and antehumeral suture, well short

of the antealar triangle. Laterally with diagonal bright blue-green band

running from dorso-anterior half of metepisternum, across interpleural suture,

to terminate in posteroventral part of mesepimeron, extending into posterior

corner of mesoinfraepisternum and most of coxa; anterior margin of band

incised at point of crossing suture. Metepisternum anteriorly dark, in

posterior half becoming blue green then pale tawny. Venter pale ochreous.

Post-sternum with dense fine, short setae. Legs: relatively short and bearing

sparse, short, robust spines (Fig. 1a). Coxae pale or marked in green; femora

robust; dark brown with posterior ridge; tibiae brown to pale ochreous from

pro-meta thorax; pro- and metatibia especially, slightly flattened basally; tarsi

dark, very short, each segment bearing strong ventral paired spines; tarsal

claws apically bifid. Wings hyaline with black neuration (Fig. 1h); petiolated

to just before level of Ax2; Ac nearer Ax2 than Ax1; Arc just beyond level of

Ax2; M3 arising just beyond level of nodus; Rs arising at Px4, about

midpoint of wing, and one cell before M2 in both wings; quadrilateral in

forewing about 4 times as long as wide along posterior margin; postero-distal

angle circa 63°; quadrilateral in hindwing about 5.5 times breadth at base;

posterolateral angle circa 50°; wing margin in forewing crenulate to level of

pterostigma, in hindwing crenulate to level of pterostigma and with strong

protrusion at Cul; pterostigmata in both wings lozenge-shaped and black.

Abdomen: Mainly dark with small green markings, slightly paler beneath;

expanded at S1, S2 and from S8-S10, especially evident in dorsal view. S1

dorsally and laterally almost entirely green; S2 with small basal dorsolateral

green marks; S3-S7 with dorsal green fleck basally. S8-10 black. Appendages

mainly dark; superiors and inferiors subequal in length and slightly longer

than S10. Superior in dorsal view (Fig. le) strongly incurved, with strong

inner, rounded shoulder subbasally; in profile (Fig. 1f) basally thickened with

apical process curved sharply downward with a slightly concave, spatulate

apex, lying inside apices of inferiors; basally dark with long sparse setae;

inferiors dark; in profile roughly triangular, tapering to a point; sparsely clad

in setae except on outer and inner basal face; in dorsal view with strong inner

shoulder at about their midpoint, thereafter tapering to thin, nearly straight,

process.

Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4) 141

Measurements: forewing, 23 mm; hindwing, 22.5 mm; abdomen +

appendages, 31.5 mm.

Etymology

parvibullis: a noun in the ablative case derived from Latin parva + bulla,

meaning ‘with small knobs’.

Habitat and biology

The new species was found at a small, 2 to 3 m wide, mostly shallow rocky

brook in virgin submontane forest at 515 m a.s.l. (Fig. 2). The site was visited

on several days but only one male was caught which was found sitting on the

vegetation beside the stream.

Fig. 2. Small shallow stony brook in submontane forest in the Muller Range, 515 m

a.s.l., type locality for A. parvibullis sp. nov.

Arrhenocnemis amphidactylis Lieftinck, 1949

(Figs 3 a-b)

Material examined

1 3: INDONESIA, Papua Province, Walmak (Nipsan), 04° 07S, 1399 38E, 1650 m

asl, 29 x 2008, leg VJ Kalkman, DNA sample NGO71; 1 9: INDONESIA, Papua

Province, Walmak (Nipsan), 04° 07S, 1399 38E, 1650 m asl, 28 x 2008, leg VJ

142 Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4)

Kalkman, DNA sample NG064; 1 2 INDONESIA, Papua Province, Star Mountains,

Borme, 04° 23.745S, 140° 26.020E, 1000-1100 m asl, 27 vii 2006, leg VJ Kalkman.

Description of female

Head: Elongate in profile. Labium pale ochraceous; medium lobe with deep

“U” shaped incision, the two flanking lateral projections tipped with long

setae; apex of lateral lobes and maxilla brownish. Labrum pale cream.

Mandibles exteriorly pale cream with brownish tinge. Clypeus light brown;

surface of postclypeus and ridge between ante- and postclypeus strongly

convex. Remainder of front of head mainly cream, with pale green tint

posteriorly, bisected by obscure pale brown, irregular band at the level of the

antennal sockets and about the breadth of the sockets; vertex with distinctly

raised and prominent occipital ridge. Antennae with second segment

somewhat longer than first, almost equal in length to third segment which is

rather short. Posterior part of head very dark brown, with line bisecting the

vertex and encircling two lateral ocelli. Eyes moderately small; dark above,

pale green to cream beneath.

Thorax: Prothorax saddle-shaped in profile with anterior and posterior lobes

both raised in broad rounded lobes; dark above, ventro-laterally pale cream.

Synthorax middle brown above with broad, pale green antehumeral bands;

anteriorly, at the inner margin of the antehumeral stripes are paired finger-

like projections, the outer side of these processes being green, the inner side

brown. Laterally mainly pale green blending to cream ventrally with diffuse

brown bands, one over mesepimeron, diagonally marking upper half of

mesinfraepisternum, and another over metepisternum, enclosing spiracle.

Legs relatively short and bearing sparse, robust spines; basally pale, with

infuscation deeper in distal segments and at tibio-femoral joint, especially in

prothoracic pair. Tarsi very short with strong paired ventral spines. Wings

hyaline with black neuration; petiolated to just before level of Ax2; Ac

slightly nearer Ax2 than Axl; Arc just beyond level of Ax2; M3 arising at or

just before subnodus; Rs arising at Px4 or Px5 in forewing, at Px3 or Px4 in

hindwing; M2 at or near level of Px6 or Px7 in forewing, at or near Px5 or

Px6 in hindwing; Mla arising at Px8, Px9 in forewing, at Px7 or Px8 in

hindwing. Wing margin in forewing crenulate to level of pterostigma, in

hindwing crenulate to level of pterostigma and with strong protrusion at Cul;

pterostigmata in both wings lozenge-shaped; dark reddish brown with very

fine amber margin.

Abdomen: Medium build. Dark brown above, laterally and ventrally pale

cream, progressively reduced to venter of posterior segments. S1 broadly

greenish cream laterally, brown above; S2-S10 dorsally with moderately

broad basal pale green fleck; in posterior segments before S10 tending to

short streak along dosal carina. Terminal segments slightly clubbed and

rounded apically. Valves pale, slender, slightly concave ventrally, with fine

subterminal comb of dark setae and longer setae terminally; extending just

Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4) 143

Fig. 3. Female Arrhenocnemis amphidactylis: (a) Dorsal view of head and lateral

view of thorax showing anterior process on mesepisternum; (b) S8-S10 of abdomen,

lateral view.

beyond pale anal tubercle. Anal appendages light brown, short, rounded

apically and slightly downturned.

Measurements: forewing, 24-25.5 mm; hindwing, 22.5-24 mm; abdomen +

appendages, 28-29 mm.

Comparison of male with type series

The single male examined agrees closely with Lieftinck’s (1949) descriptions

of the holotype male and three paratypes with the following exceptions: green

marking on head slightly more developed; left hindwing with Rs arising level

with Px3 versus Px4 in types; abdomen with thin dorsal pale green streak

along its entire length on S9 and a tiny dot of the same colour at the base of

S10, apparently lacking in types. Relative to the type series the wings are

slightly longer - hw 23 mm versus 21.5-22.5 mm in type series — and the

abdomen plus appendages slightly shorter — 31 mm versus 32-33 mm in type

series, hence the abdomen is discernibly slightly shorter relative to the wings.

144 Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4)

The antennae (not mentioned by Lieftinck 1949) are of similar proportion to

those of female.

Habitat At Borme A. amphidactylis was caught at small, shaded and rocky

brooks; at Nipsan it was found at small rocky brooks in an area where the

vegetation had largely been cleared.

= FUN)

SSO

By cer

Dm

Fig. 4. Map of New Guinea showing locations for known Arrhenocnemis collections:

open circles, A. sinuatipennis; solid squares, A. amphidaciylis; solid diamond, A.

parvibullis; open square, A. sp. incertae sedis. Grey shading indicates land over

1000m. a.s.l.

Discussion

Although Lieftinck (1933), assigned the genus Arrhenocnemis to the

Platycneminae (i.e. Platycnemididae sensu stricto), he subsequently placed it

in the Megapodagrionidae (Lieftinck 1965, 1971), where it appeared in

subsequent catalogues (Davies and Tobin 1984; Tsuda 2000). However

Gassmann (2005) reinstated it to the Platycnemididae-Calicnemiinae, where

it clearly belongs. A unique character is the tarsi which are short and bear

long spines, one pair per segment. This, combined with the crenulated

margins at the wing tips, makes it easy to distinguish the members of this

genus from any other New Guinean Zygoptera.

Other characters supporting the placement of parvibullis in Arrhenocnemis

are: 1. The venation is almost identical to that of sinuatipennis and

amphidactylis and unlike any other New Guinean calicnemiine genus, with

Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4) 145

Rs arising well distal to nodus near M2. We are not aware of this condition in

any zygopteran other than the Philippine genus Risiocnemis.

2. The legs are unusually short with stout, sparse spines.

3. The front of the head is relatively robust and elongated.

4. The labium has a U-shaped distal excavation, as described by Lieftinck

(1949), which is wider than in any other New Guinean calicnemiine genus.

5. The general body shape and size are very like sinuatipennis and

amphidactylis; coloration and markings distinctive but similar. The bullae on

the thorax are reminiscent of the ‘fingers’ of amphidactylis, a structure

unique in Zygoptera.

The unusual shortened second antennal segment found in A. parvibullis is not

clearly evident in either of the other two described species, but Lieftinck

(1933) notes that the antennae of A. sinuatipennis are overall short when

compared with the southeast Asian genus Coeliccia Kirby, 1890 and other

eastern genera of the family. This is true also of A. amphidactylis.

Thus far only 16 specimens of Arrhenocnemis have ever been collected.

These represent a probable four species, from eight localities (Fig. 4). A.

amphidactylis is distributed in the central mountain range from 700 to 1650m

and A. sinuatipennis occurs in the hills in the north of West Papua from 165

to 400m. There is a record of an Arrhenocnemis sp. from Crater Mountain

Biological Research Station published by Oppel (2005, 2006). No details are

given and it is not clear if it is a new species, but given its occurrence so far

from the known range of other species this seems very likely.

Acknowledgements

Material from the Muller Range was obtained during a Rapid Assessment

Program (RAP) biodiversity survey organised by Conservation International

(CI), and we are extremely grateful to CI and Porgera Joint Venture for their

support. The fieldwork by VJK in the Indonesian province of Papua was

made possible by funding from the Uyttenboogaart-Eliasen Foundation.

References

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to Coenagrionoidea (Zygoptera). Arthropod Systematics & Phylogeny 66: 37-44.

DAVIES, D.A.L. and TOBIN, P. 1984. The dragonflies of the world: a systematic list of the

extant species of Odonata. Volume 1 Zygoptera, Anisozygoptera. Societas Internationalis

Odonatologica Rapid Communications (Supplements) 3: 1-127.

FRASER, F.C. 1957. A reclassification of the order Odonata. Royal Zoological Society of New

South Wales, Sydney; 134 pp.

GASSMANN, D. 2005. The phylogeny of Southeast Asian and Indo-Pacific Calicnemiinae

(Odonata:Platycnemididae). Bonner Zoologische Beiträge 53 (2004): 37-80.

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KALKMAN, V.J. 2008. Records of dragonflies from Borme, Star Mountains, Papua, Indonesia

(Odonata). Entomologische Berichten 68(2): 45-52.

LIEFTINCK, M.A. 1933. The dragonflies of New Guinea and neighbouring islands. Part II.

Descriptions of a new genus and species of Platycneminae (Agrionidae) and of new Libellulidae.

Nova Guinea 17: 1-66.

LIEFTINCK, M.A. 1949. The dragonflies (Odonata) of New Guinea and neighbouring islands.

Part VII. Results of the Third Archbold expedition 1938-1939 and of the Le Roux Expedition

1939 to Netherlands New Guinea (II. Zygoptera). Nova Guinea (N.S.) 5: 1-271.

LIEFTINCK, M.A. 1971. A catalogue of type specimens of Odonata preserved in the

Netherlands, with a supplementary list of the Odonata types described by Dutch scientists

deposited in foreign institutional collections. Tijdschrift voor Entomologie 114: 65-139.

OPPEL, A. 2005. Odonata in the Crater Mountain Wildlife Management Area, Papua New

Guinea. IDF-Report 7: 1-28.

OPPEL, S. 2006. Comparison of two Odonata communities from a natural and a modified

rainforest in Papua New Guinea. International Journal of Odonatology 9: 89-102.

THEISCHINGER, G, and ENDERSBY, I. 2010. Identification guide to the Australian Odonata.

Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water NSW, Sydney; iv + 283 pp.

TSUDA, S. 2000. A distributional list of world Odonata 2000. Privately published. Osaka; 362

PP-

van TOL, J. and GASSMANN, D. 2007. Zoogeography of freshwater invertebrates of Southeast

Asia, with special reference to Odonata. pp. 45-91 in: Renema, W. (ed.): Biogeography, Time

and Place - Distributions, Barriers and Islands. Topics in Geobiology, Vol. 29. Dordrecht

(Springer).

WATSON, J.A.L., THEISCHINGER, G. and ABBEY, H.M. 1991. The Australian Dragonflies:

A Guide to the Identification, Distributions and Habitats of Australian Odonata. CSIRO,

Canberra and Melbourne. vii+ 278 pp.

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Scientific Publishers, Gainesville, Florida; vii+ 503 pp.

Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4): 147-156 147

A NEW CICADA GENUS AND A REDESCRIPTION OF

PAUROPSALTA SUBOLIVACEA ASHTON (HEMIPTERA:

CICADIDAE) FROM EASTERN AUSTRALIA

'LINDSAY W. POPPLE and “DAVID L. EMERY

‘Ecology, Evolution & Genetics, Building 116, Research School of. Biology, The Australian

National University, Canberra ACT 0200, lindsay.popple@uqconnect.edu.au

?McMaster Building B14, Veterinary Science, University of Sydney, NSW 2006,

david.emery@sydney.edu.au

Abstract

We erect a new genus (Samaecicada gen. nov.) for Pauropsalta subolivacea and provide the first

description of the female. The acutely extended, straight to slightly inward facing upper lobes of

the pygofer, in combination with undeveloped basal pygofer lobes and lack of pseudoparameres,

distinguishes this new monotypic genus from all others in the tribe Cicadettini. Observations

indicate that its seasonal emergence is erratic and adults are short-lived. Recent specimens have

been captured on medium sized shrubs, notably Hakea sp., in open woodland containing

Angophora costata trees on sandstone ridges.

Introduction

Pauropsalta subolivacea Ashton, 1912 was originally described from a single

male specimen from “New South Wales”. Recently, additional specimens

have been obtained from Northbridge, Maroubra, the Royal National Park

and Red Hill, all in the Sydney metropolitan area. The type specimen of

Pauropsalta subolivacea Ashton, 1912 is housed in the Australian Museum.

Despite being in poor condition (with the pronotum and head missing), the

most critical morphological features, including the fore and hind wings,

opercula and genitalia, are still intact. This specimen, as well as the original

description of the species, matches several specimens collected over the past

5 years from sandstone ridges in the Sydney area.

P. subolivacea has acutely extended upper pygofer lobes, which is a typical

feature of the genus Pauropsalta Goding and Froggatt (Ewart 1989), and

easily explains Ashton’s (1912) generic designation. However, the type does

not possess an infuscation on the margin at the distal end of hind wing cell

2A, which is a characteristic feature of Pauropsalta (Ewart 1989). Therefore,

the possibility of its inclusion in other genera within the Cicadettini needs

consideration. Some features of the male genitalia suggest affinities with

Fijipsalta Duffels from Fiji and Migripsalta Boer from New Guinea.

However, the combination of unique genitalic characters in P. subolivacea

preclude it from any of the above genera and, on this basis, we erect a new

genus for this species.

Terminology follows Moulds (2005), with additional terms for tymbal

anatomy sourced from Dugdale (1972) and Bennet-Clark (1997). Several

characters highlighted in the cladistic analysis of Moulds (2005) are included

in the generic description. The species redescription follows, with the original

description of P. subolivacea by Ashton (1912) included here for

148 Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4)

comparison. Material sourced for this taxonomic work is located in the

following collections: AM — Australian Museum, Sydney (holotype male);

ANIC — Australian National Insect Collection, CSIRO, Canberra; DE —

private collection of D. L. Emery, Sydney; MSM - private collection of M. S.

Moulds, Kuranda.

Systematics

Family CICADIDAE Latreille

Subfamily CICADETTINAE Buckton

Tribe Cicadettini Buckton

Samaecicada gen. nov.

Type species. Pauropsalta subolivacea Ashton, 1912

Included species. S. subolivacea (Ashton, 1912), comb. nov.

Etymology. Named after Samantha Emery, who collected the first recent

material of the type species, which led to its rediscovery.

Diagnosis. A small cicada (type species = 12.1-14.0mm total body length).

Width of head (including eyes) equal to, or only slightly greater than, width

of pronotum across lateral margins, equal to abdomen width (across auditory

capsules); width of pronotum measured from lateral angles similar to width

of mesonotum measured between fore wings; pronotal collar with lateral

angles confluent with adjoining pronotal sclerites; distance between lateral

ocelli slightly greater than distance between each lateral ocellus and adjacent

eye. Metanotum partially visible. Abdomen length approximately equal to

that of head and thorax combined; rounded in dorsal and lateral profile, with

sternites projecting well below level of tergites. Fore wings hyaline; costa

well-developed and wider across basal cell and at node, with subcostal vein

widening distally along length of basal cell, narrower for remainder to node,

with slight curvature exaggerating towards node; fore wing with eight apical

cells that have lengths similar to or slightly longer on average than ulnar

cells; intersection of veins CuA and M slightly closer to the basal cell than

the distal ends of both veins CuA and M; lengths of the four distal vein

sections that comprise the inner radial cell margin are of approximately equal

length. Hind wings with six apical cells (seven or eight if abnormal).

Opercula broadly sickle-shaped, rounded along ventral edge; meracantha

broad and marginally overlapping opercula; inner margins of opercula clearly

separated. Tymbals with long ribs fused dorsally along basal spur; short ribs

present; not extending below wing bases. Pygofer roughly narrowly ovate in

dorsal view; upper lobes acutely extended, straight to slightly inward-facing,

dominating the pygofer, including dorsal beak; basal lobes not developed;

uncus poorly developed, with subtle, posteriorly receding lobe; claspers

prominent, curved anteriorly, projected ventrally and curved slightly

posteriorly to a subacute termination. Aedeagus simple, without

Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4) 149

Fig. 1. Samaecicada subolivacea comb. nov. from Royal National Park, New

South Wales: (A) male, dorsal; (B) male, ventral; (C) female, dorsal. Total

body lengths = 12.8mm (male) and 14.0mm (female).

150 Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4)

pseudoparameres; theca sclerotized throughout, extending directly from basal

plate, without ventral support.

Distinguishing features. The unique characteristics of the male genitalia act

as the most useful diagnostic features for this genus. The presence of

prominent, acutely extended, straight to slightly inward facing upper lobes of

the pygofer, in combination with the absence of basal pygofer lobes,

distinguishes this new monotypic genus from all others in the tribe

Cicadettini. Other genera that show some affinities with Samaecicada are

Nigripsalta, specifically the type species, N. carinata Boer, and Fijipsalta. N.

carinata also has greatly produced upper pygofer lobes and a similarly

shaped theca to Samaecicada; however, in Nigripsalta, the upper pygofer

lobes are broad not acute and the claspers are not so prominently developed

(Boer 1999). Fijipsalta is easily distinguished by having more rudimentary

and rounded upper pygofer lobes (Duffels and Ewart 1988). Australian

cicadas that could be confused with Samaecicada include members of the

Cicadetta forresti (Distant) group (including C. capistrata (Ashton), C.

froggatti (Distant), C. juncta (Walker), C. sulcata (Distant) and C. viridis

(Ashton)), Graminitigrina Ewart and Pauropsalta Goding and Froggatt. The

C. forresti group is most easily distinguished by their tymbals with eight long

ribs and well-developed basal pygofer lobes. Graminitigrina and Pauropsalta

both have developed basal pygofer lobes and all known Pauropsalta species

have dorsal pseudoparameres (Ewart and Marques 2008). Samaecicada lacks

each of these characteristics. As indicated in the introduction, Samaecicada

also lacks an infuscation on the margin at the distal end of hind wing cell 2A,

which is a characteristic feature of Pauropsalta (Ewart 1989). The absence

of pseudoparameres in Samaecicada is significant because these are listed as

one of the defining characteristics of Cicadettini as redefined by Moulds

(2005). However, this feature is also absent in some species of

Graminitigrina (Ewart and Marques 2008), so there are other known

exceptions.

Samaecicada subolivacea (Ashton, 1912) comb. nov.

(Figs 1-4)

Holotype. , NEW SOUTH WALES, 1912, (AM).

Additional material NEW SOUTH WALES: 16, 34°06’S 151°03’E, Wises Track,

Royal National Park, Sydney, Hakea sp 11.i.2005, S. & D. Emery; 1ĝ, same location,

3.1.2008, S. N. & D. Emery; 19, same location, Hakea sp 11.i.2005, S. & D. Emery

(all DE); 18, 33°44’S 151°15°E, Red Hill Swamp, Sydney, 27.xii.2008, R. Perry

(spider’s web) (MSM); 18, N[or]thb[ri]dge, 30.xi.1927 (ANIC); 16, Maroubra,

10.x.1935, G.P.Whitley (AM).

Ashton (1912) described the type specimen as follows:

Fig. 2. Samaecicada subolivacea comb. nov. (A) right fore and hind wings;

(B) left operculum; (C) left tymbal. Photographs taken of specimens from

Northbridge, New South Wales (A) and Royal National Park, New South

Wales (B and C). Line drawings have been superimposed onto the

photographs of the operculum and tymbal (B and C) to assist visualisation of

the contained structures. Scale bars Imm.

152 Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4)

“Pauropsalta subolivacea, sp. nov. male. Head black, pilose, eves fuscous.

Pronotum testaceous, a central black fascia dilated anteriorly and

posteriorly (enclosing a pale central stripe). Some spots about the incisures

black, posterior margin very narrow, ochraceous. Mesonotum testaceous,

two central obconical spots on anterior margin cruciform elevation sordid

pale fuscous. Abdomen testaceous, pilose, segments with basal margins

black, apex of first and second segment narrowly ochraceous, lateral

margins suffused with greenish olive. Body beneath yellow, suffused on legs,

opercula and lateral margins of abdomen with greenish olive.

Tegmina and wings hyaline, costa dull ochraceous margined with black,

interior venation black, apical paler. Head, excluding eyes, as broad as long,

front [frons] much produced, vertical margins continuous. Pronotum as wide

as head, and as long. Mesonotum as broad as pronotum, and, from base of

cruciform elevation, as long as pronotum and head together. Abdomen long,

slender, tapering, as long as head and thorax.

Long.-(excl. teg.), 14 mm.; exp. teg., 38 mm.”

The revised description, with first documentation of the female, is given

below.

Male (Figs 1A-B). Head largely black, dorsal surface dull black with red

ocelli; postclypeus dull, barred black medially with green lateral and

posterior margins, rounded laterally between tops and sides; anteclypeus

shiny black; rostrum ochraceous anteriorly, extending into black posteriorly,

with length reaching close to posterior edge of mid coxae. Eyes red (live

specimens) with greyish coloration at basal posterior margins. Antennae

black, supra-antennal plates black.

Thorax with pronotum dull black; midline fascia with variable thin greenish

line not reaching pronotal collar; variable and inconspicuous dark brown

coloration at bases of paramedian and lateral fissures; pronotal collar shiny

black with posterior margin green. Mesonotum black, cruciform elevation

black with variable lighter brown ridges; fore wing basal membranes fuscous

grey, parapsidal sutures brown in some specimens; metanotum black. Legs

with coxae green, each showing a variable brown-black longitudinal lateral

fascia, margins black; femora green; tibiae green, with mid tibiae mottled in

some specimens, all becoming paler towards base, with spines grading from

green at base to black at tips; tarsi green-brown at base, becoming darker

brown towards claws.

Wings (Fig. 2A) with fore wing costal veins green, becoming light green

posteriorly from the node; basal membranes translucent grey; veins CuA and

base of M black, lighter towards base; CuP prominently green to junction

with 1A; all other veins black; basal cell transparent; length of fore wings

consistently longer than total body length. Hind wing costal vein green; base

of vein 1A and 2A light cream, 3A dark brown to black and thickened at

Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4) 153

base, all other veins black; plaga pale cream at base, becoming transparent

towards apical third; cucl approximately 3 times width of cuc2.

Opercula (Fig. 2B) following body axis lateroventrally, broadly sickle-

shaped, slightly depressed centrally, rounded and slightly raised at ventral

margin; green to pale yellow; clearly separated. Meracanthus small, broad,

green to yellow, pointed, minimally overlapping opercula.

Tymbals (Fig. 2C) with four distinct long ribs; long ribs 1-3 brown dorsally,

much paler ventrally and becoming identical in colour to surrounding

membrane; long rib 4 brown, comparatively shorter; all long ribs fused

dorsally along basal spur, with 1-2 and often 3 also joined ventrally; short

ribs present to the anterior of long rib 4 (absent in some specimens), between

each long rib and posterior to long rib 1; large ridged dome on posterior

tymbal plate with ridges; apodeme pit oval-shaped and conspicuous.

Abdomen with tergites shiny black with contrasting green posterior and

extreme lateral margins. Sternite I black with greenish coloration laterally

under operculum, sternites II-VI yellow green, sternite VII green becoming

darker posteriorly; sternite VIII brownish, with black pubescence.

Fig. 3. Samaecicada subolivacea comb. nov. Pygofer and male genitalia, viewed (A)

laterally from left, and (B) ventrally. Labels refer to following external and internal

components: "db" = dorsal beak, "ul" = upper pygofer lobe, "If" = lateral fold of upper

pygofer lobe, "th" = theca, "uc" = uncus, "cl" = clasper, "bp" = aedeagus basal plate,

and "or" = tooth-like ornamentation on the inner edge of the claspers (described in the

text). Specimen from Royal National Park, New South Wales. Scale bars 1mm.

Genitalia (Fig. 3). Pygofer with upper lobes elongate and acute, extending

beyond the posterior end of the abdomen; minor lateral folds evident at

ventral base of upper lobes. Uncus subtle, with vestigial posterior projection.

154 Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4)

Claspers with undulating curve ventrally, subacute termination; distinct

tooth-like ornamentation on inner surface where claspers abut medially.

Aedeagus with basal plate acutely downturned at basal end; theca entirely

sclerotized, gracile, becoming thinner and gently curved dorsally at apex.

Female (Fig. 1C). Head similar to male apart from a brown spot positioned

medially and posterior to ocelli.

Thorax with pronotum mainly green, changing to black anteriorly, with large

areas of brown pigmentation either side of midline and a small brown spot on

midline immediately anterior to pronotal collar; pronotal collar green with a

black spot at each of the lateral margins. Mesonotum brown with

inconspicuous cream lines across dorsolateral surface; cruciform elevation

arms cream, apex brown, depressions black, grading to cream laterally. Fore

wing basal membranes grey. Legs similar to male.

Abdomen with tergites 1-7 green, slightly browner towards midline.

Abdominal segment 9 brown dorsally, green laterally, grading to yellow

ventrally. Ovipositor brown, noticeably extending 1.5mm beyond termination

of abdomen.

Measurements (in mm; range with mean in parentheses: five males, one

female). Body length: male 12.1-14.0 (12.8); female 14.0. Fore wing length:

male 13.1-14.8 (14.5); female 16.0. Head width: male 3.2-3.7 (3.5); female

4.2. Pronotum width: male 3.4-3.8 (3.73); female 3.6. Abdomen width: male

3.2-3.6 (3.47); female 3.8.

Diagnosis. S. subolivacea is distinguished from other species in the tribe

Cicadettinae by the combination of acutely elongated, straight to slightly

inward-facing upper pygofer lobes and undeveloped basal pygofer lobes.

More thorough comparisons are given under the description of Samaecicada

above.

Distribution, habitat and behaviour

Known only from old locations in Northbridge and Maroubra, and from

recent collections in the Royal National Park and Red Hill "Swamp", all in

the Sydney metropolitan area. Ashton’s specimen (labelled N.S.W.) would

also have most likely been collected in the Greater Sydney area. We

anticipate that S. subolivacea may occur in areas of suitable habitat outside of

the Sydney area; however, it could actually be limited to the Hawkesbury

Sandstone region. Adults of this species have so far been encountered on

Hakea sp. shrubs in areas of open woodland containing Angophora costata,

growing on sandstone ridges adjacent to heathland (Fig. 4). Emergences seem

to be irregular and population sizes upon emergence would appear to be

small. All specimens have been taken between mid December and mid

January, with adults always having been encountered at heights of less than

one metre above ground. Apart from the repeated distress calls when a

courting pair was captured in 2005, the song of this species has not yet been

Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4) 155

Fig. 4. Habitat of Samaecicada subolivacea comb. nov. at Royal National Park, New

South Wales. The inset at the bottom right shows live specimens of S. subolivacea

(female pictured left and male pictured right).

heard or recorded. Perhaps the call is mostly ultrasonic and does not transmit

far. No specimens have come to light. Specimens in flight travel less than

five metres.

Acknowledgments

We thank Max Moulds, Tony Ewart and Dave Marshall for their most helpful

comments on the manuscript, Kathy Hill for encouragement and providing

advice on generic comparisons, Samantha Emery for valuable assistance in

sourcing new material in the field, Dave Britton for taking the photographs of

the set specimens and providing access to the type specimen in the Australian

Museum, Cate Lehmann (ANIC, CSIRO) for assistance in obtaining images

of important morphological features and Anouk Mututantri for producing the

line drawings of genitalia. Tony Ewart also provided comparative

illustrations for reference during preparation of the manuscript. Material for

this study was collected under permit number S11010, issued to DLE by the

New South Wales Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water.

References

ASHTON, H. 1912. Some new Australian Cicadidae. Proceedings of the Roval Society of

Victoria (ns) 24: 221-229.

156 Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4)

BENNET-CLARK, H.C. 1997. Tymbal mechanics and the control of song frequency in the

cicada Cyclochila australasiae. Journal of Experimental Biology 200: 1681-1694.

BOER, A.J. de. 1999. Taxonomy and biogeography of the New Guinean Cicadettini (Hemiptera,

Tibicinidae). Deutsche entomologische Zeitschrift 46: 115-147.

DUFFELS, J.P. and EWART, A. 1988. The Cicadas of the Fiji, Samoa and Tonga Islands: Their

Taxonomy and Biogeography (Homoptera, Cicadoidea). Brill/Scandinavian Science Press,

Leiden. 108 pp.

DUGDALE, J. 1972. Genera of New Zealand Cicadidae (Homoptera). New Zealand Journal of

Science 14: 856-882.

EWART, A. 1989. Revisionary notes on the genus Pauropsalta Goding and Froggatt

(Homoptera: Cicadidae) with special reference to Queensland. Memoirs of the Queensland

Museum 27: 289-375.

EWART, A. and MARQUES, D. 2008. A new genus of grass cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadoidea:

Cicadidae) from Queensland, with descriptions of their songs. Memoirs of the Queensland

Museum 52: 149-202.

MOULDS, M.S. 2005. An appraisal of the higher classification of cicadas (Hemiptera:

Cicadoidea) with special reference to the Australian fauna. Records of the Australian Museum

57: 375-446.

Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4):157-162 157

FIRST RECORD OF APPIAS ALBINA INFUSCATA FRUHSTORFER,

1910 (LEPIDOPTERA: PIERIDAE) FROM AUSTRALIA

'M.F. BRABY, 7A. WORSNOP, ?O. YATA and “A. TUPPER

' Museum and Art Gallery Northern Territory, GPO Box 4646, Darwin, NT 0801, Australia

and Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200,

Australia .

? GPO Box 813, Darwin, NT 0801, Australia

` The Kyushu University Museum, Hakozaki 6-10-1, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan

“Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Northern Territory Region, PO Box 40050, Casuarina,

NT 0811, Australia

Abstract

We record the presence of Appias albina infuscata on the Australian mainland for the first time.

A female black morph of this subspecies, otherwise endemic to Sumbawa, Indonesia, is recorded

from near Darwin, Northern Territory. The specimen was recorded during the height of the

summer monsoon and probably represents a vagrant that dispersed to north-western Australia

facilitated by monsoonal climatic conditions (westerly trade winds) rather than by directional

migration.

Observations

On 26" January 2010 a species of Appias was observed and photographed at

close range in the town of Humpty Doo (12°34’03”S, 131°08’08”E), about 30

km ESE of Darwin, NT. The butterfly, a female, was observed for

approximately 10 mins during the early afternoon (1430 h) feeding on

flowers of Micromelum minutum (G. Forster) Wight & Arn. (Rutaceae)

growing in the garden of a rural property adjacent to Edwin Creek, a tributary

of the Howard River. During the observation period, the butterfly flew and

fed at approximately 2.5m or more above the ground, rendering it difficult to

photograph. Despite a careful watch the species was not observed again that

day or during subsequent days.

Examination of digital images of the butterfly revealed several distinguishing

features. The upperside (Fig. 1) was characterised by a broad black margin,

with the termen narrowly edged white and the central areas greyish-white. On

the fore wing, the black margin extended broadly along the costa and termen,

and more narrowly along the dorsum (from tornus to postmedian area); much

of the discal cell was also black, but the central and subbasal areas (from

postmedian area distal to cell and median area immediately below cell to

dorsum and base) were dark greyish-white. The fore wing had the termen

slightly concave, and a series of up to four pale subapical spots that were

enclosed by the broad black margin, the two spots between veins R4+5 and M,

being the largest. On the hind wing, the black margin extended broadly along

the termen, with the central and subbasal areas (from median area to base)

broadly greyish-white. The underside of the fore wing (Fig. 2) was

characterised by a conspicuous yellow patch in the cell, beyond which lay a

broad black postmedian band that appeared to extend to the termen. The

underside of the subapical area of the fore wing and underside of the hind

158 Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4)

wing were both uniformly pale grey (the underside ground colour was noted

to be pale grey during the observation period and not white as portrayed in

the photo — the white colouration was probably due to reflection of light).

Discussion

We have identified the specimen as Appias albina infuscata Fruhstorfer, 1910

based on comparison of types of the genus Appias and other material held in

the Natural History Museum, London (BMNH). Females of this subspecies

are highly variable, but the “wet-season form” is characterised by having very

broad black margins on both wings, which on the fore wing enclose only a

few faint subapical spots or sometimes no spots (Yata 1985). They also vary

in colour with respect to the central and basal areas on the upperside, which

may be either white (Fig. 3), yellow (Fig. 4) or almost black with some

greyish-white (Fig. 5). The individual female recorded from near Darwin

most closely resembles the holotype of Appias albina ambigua form

saweloides Fruhstorfer, 1910 (Fig. 5), which is an infrasubspecific and

unavailable name for Appias albina infuscata (Yata et al. 2010). This type

specimen is almost entirely black and approaches the female black morph of

A. albina albina from Sulawesi, except that it has some greyish-white scales

in the central and basal areas. Appias albina infuscata is restricted to the

island of Sumbawa, Indonesia, and has not previously been recorded from

Australia. The other subspecies of A. albina (Boisduval, 1836) that occurs in

close proximity to Australia is A. albina ambigua Grose-Smith, 1885,

previously known under the name A. albina micromalayana Fruhstorfer,

1910, which is a junior subjective synonym of A. albina ambigua (Yata et al.

2010). This subspecies is recorded from eastern Java, Lombok, Sumba,

Flores, Timor, Tanimbar and Wetar (type locality), but not the intervening

island of Sumbawa (Yata 1985, Yata et al. 2010). Although females of A.

albina ambigua are variable, and the black margins of the “wet-season form”

may be as broad as in A. albina infuscata, they are never almost entirely

black. Our specimen from north-western Australia (Figs 1, 2) and the

holotype of A. albina ambigua form saweloides (Fig. 5) represent a

phenotype that appears to be unique to Sumbawa. This unique phenotype of

A. albina infuscata and the similar looking black morph of A. albina albina

from Sulawesi (see Yata et al. 2010, Fig. 19P) possibly have a genetic basis.

The specimen photographed near Darwin does not resemble females of A.

albina albina (Boisduval, 1836) from northern Australia. Although females

of A. albina albina in Australia are highly variable and are now known to

exhibit sex-limited polymorphism, having three distinct colour morphs

(white, yellow and intermediate), they do not possess broad black margins

with greyish-white central areas on the upperside (Braby et al. 2010). In

addition, in A. albina albina the black terminal band on the hind wing has its

proximal edge deeply scalloped between the veins, and occasionally the band

is reduced to black spots at the ends of veins, whereas in A. albina infuscata

Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4) 159

Figs 1-5. Female Appias albina infuscata: (1-2) specimen photographed at Humpty

Doo, NT, 26 January 2010, showing upperside (1) and underside (2); (3-5) variation

in phenotype among “wet-season forms’ from Sumbawa, Indonesia, in the BMNH,

showing white morph (3) (syntype, labelled “Sumbawa, Tambora 1897, ex coll.

Fruhstorfer”, “Fruhstorfer Coll. B.M. 1937-285.”, “BMNH(E) #135652”, SYNTYPE

Appias albina infuscata Fruhstorfer, det. J.E. Chainey, 1999”), yellow morph (4)

(syntype labelled similarly), and greyish-white morph (5) (holotype of Appias albina

ambigua form saweloides Fruhstorfer, 1910, labelled “Sumbawa, H. Fruhstorfer

BMNH(E) #142258, Fruhstorfer purchase BM:1937-285”). Figures 1-2 by A.

Worsnop.

160 Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4)

—

| E120 | E1224( N~E128” | E430" | E1

| i —(9?2 Jan o | =.

| | |

Fig. 6. Map of north-western Australia and the Lesser Sunda Islands, showing two

extreme trajectories “A” and “B” for January 2010. Star indicates approximate location

of specimen of Appias albina infuscata near Darwin; broad black arrows indicate

prevailing wind directions during January; narrow red arrow indicates approximate

path of Tropical Cyclone “Magda”.

“wet-season form” the inner margin of the black band is relatively straight

(Figs 1, 3-5). In both A. albina albina and A. albina ambigua the black

terminal band on the fore wing is strongly indented between veins CuA, and

CuA», whereas in A. albina infuscata “wet-season form’ this indentation is

absent or poorly developed.

Braby et al. (2010) recently reviewed the distribution and habitat preferences

of A. albina albina in northern Australia, and concluded that breeding

populations of this subspecies are resident. In the Northern Territory, the

nominate subspecies inhabits coastal semi-deciduous monsoon vine-thicket

where its larval food plant Drypetes deplanchei (Brongn. & Gris) Merr.

(Putranjivaceae) grows on lateritic edges and cliffs. It is considered unlikely

that A. albina infuscata is also established in coastal areas of northern

Australia; otherwise the two subspecies would be sympatric. Although

Appias butterflies, including A. albina, are well-known for their ability to

migrate, Darwin lies 1500 km ESE of Sumbawa, which is quite a formidable

distance given the vast ocean of the Timor Sea with few ‘stepping-stones’

between these geographical locations. The only substantial landmasses

between north-western Australia and Sumbawa that could facilitate long-

distance dispersal by migration are the islands of Sumba, Flores and Timor.

Hence, it is possible that the female specimen of A. albina infuscata was a

vagrant that migrated well beyond its normal distributional range.

Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4) 161

However, since the butterfly was recorded during the height of the summer

monsoon it is also possible that the specimen was assisted by strong wind

currents. The Australian summer monsoon is part of the large-scale Asian-

Australian monsoon system and its arrival in northern Australia is

accompanied by westerly trade winds from SE Asia (Bowman et al. 2010). In

order to test this second hypothesis, we used the HYSPLIT trajectory model

(Draxler and Hess 1998), accessed through the US ‘Ready’ site (Draxler and

Rolph 2010). The accuracy of trajectory modelling depends to a large extent

on the quality of the input meteorological analysis, but such models have

been successfully used in the past to trace pollutants such as volcanic ash

clouds for periods of several weeks (Tupper et al. 2006). The model allows

for the dispersing object or gas to be released at any height above the surface.

In our simulations, we chose release heights of within 500 m of mean sea

level. January 2010 was an active monsoonal month, with the monsoon

trough extending well south, and westerly winds across the Timor Sea. In the

third week of the month, the flow regime was somewhat complicated by the

formation of Tropical Cyclone ‘Magda’ south of Timor (Bureau of

Meteorology 2010). Assuming the possibility of Sumba, Flores or Timor

islands being used as stepping stones, we found several trajectories during

January 2010 in which the butterfly could have reached and crossed the

north-western Australian coast while staying relatively close to the surface.

Figure 6 illustrates two divergent models, with trajectory ‘A’ (15-19 January

2010) bringing the specimen close to the area where it was found in late

January in just over four days. Many similar possible trajectories to ‘A’ were

found during the first two weeks of January. Trajectory ‘B’ is based on

analysis from several days later (18""-22"' January 2010) and presents a more

chaotic and overall southerly trajectory introduced to the butterfly’s potential

trajectory by the formation of TC ‘Magda’, which crossed the Kimberley on

21* January 2010.

It is therefore likely that dispersal of A. albina infuscata across the Timor Sea

from Sumbawa to north-western Australia was facilitated by monsoonal trade

winds, possibly assisted by the islands of Sumba, Flores or Timor as

stepping-stones, rather than by migration. Such a dispersal event would have

been more possible during the first half of the month (i.e. < 15 January 2010)

than in the second half, owing to the favourable wind conditions at that time,

implying that the specimen may have been on the mainland for

approximately one week before it was discovered on 26" January 2010.

Acknowledgements

We thank Dick Vane-Wright for figures 3 and 4, and for supplying digital

images of the syntypes of Appias albina infuscata deposited in the Natural

History Museum, London.

162 Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4)

References

BOWMAN, D.M.J.S., BROWN, G., BRABY, M.F., BROWN, J., COOK, L., CRISP, M.D.,

FORD, F., HABERLE, S., HUGHES, J.M., ISAGI, Y., JOSEPH, L., McBRIDE, J., NELSON,

G. and LADIGES, P.Y. 2010. Biogeography of the monsoon tropics. Journal of Biogeography

37: 201-216.

BRABY, M.F., LANE, D.A. and WEIR, R.P. 2010. The occurrence of Appias albina albina

(Boisduval, 1836) (Lepidoptera: Pieridae: Pierinae) in northern Australia: phenotypic variation,

life history and biology, with remarks on its taxonomic status. Entomological Science 13: 258-

268.

BUREAU OF METEOROLOGY. 2010. Darwin Tropical Diagnostic Statement, January 2010.

hitp:/www.bom.gov.au/climate/search/tropical-diagnostic-statement.shtml?bookmark=no-rm.

DRAXLER, R.R. and HESS, G.D. 1998. An overview of the Hysplit 4 Modelling System for

trajectories, dispersion, and deposition. Australian Meteorological Magazine 47: 295-308.

DRAXLER, R.R. and ROLPH, G.D. 2010. HYSPLIT (HYbrid Single-Particle Lagrangian

Integrated Trajectory) Model access via NOAA ARL READY

http:/www.arl.noaa.gov/ready/hysplit4.html. NOAA Air Resources Laboratory, Silver Spring,

MD.

TUPPER, A., DAVEY, J., STEWART, P., STUNDER, B., SERVRANCKX, R. and PRATA, F.

2006. Aircraft encounters with volcanic clouds over Micronesia, Oceania. 2002/03. Australian

Meteorological Magazine 55: 289-299,

YATA, O. 1985. Part 1: Pieridae. Pp 205-438, in: Tsukada, E. (ed) Butterflies of the South East

Asian islands. II: Pieridae, Danaidae. Plapac, Tokyo.

YATA, O., CHAINEY, J.E. and VANE-WRIGHT, R.I. 2010. The Golden and Mariana

albatrosses, new species of pierid butterflies, with a review of subgenus Appias (Catophaga)

(Lepidoptera). Systematic Entomology: [in press].

Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4): 163-169 163

DEVELOPMENT OF AN INSECTICIDE BAITING SYSTEM

APPLICABLE FOR THE CONTROL OF EXOTIC VESPULA

. (HYMENOPTERA: VESPIDAE) WASP SPECIES IN TASMANIAN

FORESTRY OPERATION SITES.

R. BASHFORD

Forestry Tasmania, GPO Box 207, Hobart, Tas. 7001, Australia

dick. bashford@forestrytas.com.au

Abstract

Forestry activities in Tasmania can be severely affected by the presence of nests and large

numbers of foraging workers of exotic Vespula wasps. A system of insecticidal baiting for nest

destruction is described that provides temporary reduction of wasp numbers during forestry

activities. There was a reduction in wasp numbers within a 50-metre radius of the baiting sites

that was maintained for the remainder of the wasp season.

Introduction

Two exotic species of vespine wasps are well established in Tasmania. One

species, Vespula germanica (Fabricius, 1793) is common throughout the state

and has been of major pest status since 1959 (Bashford 2001). A second

species, Vespula vulgaris (Linnaeus, 1758), was discovered in 2000 and has

spread rapidly throughout the south of the state (Matthews et al. 2000).

During the late summer months vespine wasps are active in large numbers

throughout Tasmania. The presence and activity of wasps have adversely

affected forestry activities with frequent wasp stings reported. Movement of

forest workers out of operational areas due to high populations of vespine

wasps is costly, both in time lost and productivity (Shimizu et al. 1995). The

most severe incidents involve nest disturbance caused by machinery, such as

bulldozers used to remove dead standing trees, and manual activities such as

pruning, thinning, and seed collection in the vicinity of nests. Multiple stings

may result in a dangerous anaphylactic reaction (Perez-Pimiento et al. 2007).

In Tasmania 27% of people stung by vespine wasps suffer anaphylaxis to

some degree (Brown 2004). In addition with the advent of tourism ventures

within State Forests, especially picnic and barbecue sites, high populations of

vespine wasps severely diminish visitor enjoyment.

Large numbers of wasps within a forestry area generally indicate the presence

of a number of nests. Use of fipronil, a slow acting insecticide, in a protein

bait station system enables foraging workers to transport bait into the nest,

eventually killing the colony (Sackmann et al. 2001). Wasps were observed

to harvest the protein bait over a one to two day period and accumulate

enough insecticide within the nest to greatly reduce the wasp field population

and cause nest mortality within five days of baiting. Grant et al. (1968) first

trialled insecticide-laced protein baits, cooked ground horsemeat containing

1% chlordane, in suburban areas of California, and found them highly

effective. Chang (1988) tested a number of insecticide/bait combinations for

164 Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4)

area-wide control of Vespula pensylvanica Saussure, 1857 within sugar cane

plantations in Hawaii. Since then there have been a number of trials using

fipronil formulations to control Vespula species in New Zealand (Spurr

1996), Argentina (Sackmann et al. 2001), Tasmania (Warren & Statham

2002) and South Australia (Glenys Wood, pers. comm.).

This study investigated the efficacy of remote feeding stations baited with

fipronil in ground meat for reduction of V. germanica and V. vulgaris

populations by colony destruction in forestry situations. Promising results

have resulted in incorporation into operational management.

Methods

Evaluation of protein bases (beef mince, wallaby mince, sardines, sardine

based cat food, and chicken nuggets) was made prior to this trial. Other

workers had previously recorded the attractiveness of these protein sources in

field trials (Sackmann 2001, Spurr 1996, Beggs 1998). ln this study

observations indicated that fresh ground wallaby mince was visited more

frequently than other protein sources and, with the addition of water crystals,

did not desiccate as quickly as most other protein sources.

Bait stations were constructed of 30 x 12cm lengths of packing case wood as

a base and roof held 15cm apart by walls of Gutterguard 8 plastic mesh. The

plastic mesh was stapled to the wood sections with one side unstapled to

allow bait placement inside the cage. The mesh size of lcm” provided easy

access to wasps. Traps were suspended 1.5 metres above the ground from a

convenient branch using piano wire.

The bait selected consisted of 500g minced wallaby meat marinated

overnight in a 500ml 0.1% (w/v) solution of the phenyl pyrazole, Fipronil

(Termidor ® 100SC) provided by Aventis CropScience Pty Ltd. Marinated

mince bait was drained and mixed with water absorbent crystals (Nylex ®

Water Crystals, active constituent 80% Acrylamide co-polymer) at a rate of

3g crystals per 500g mince. Water crystals reduced the rate of desiccation of

the protein bait in the traps, doubling the length of time they were attractive

to wasps in the field. The mince mixture was divided into 20g blocks and

individually packaged in zip-lock bags. These blocks were stored in the

fridge for use within a few days or in the freezer for longer-term storage.

Following the methods of Beggs et al. (1998), a bait station was located in

the middle of each of two recently logged coupes (WR001B and WR008H)

in the Warra LTER site (146° 40’E, 43° 04’S) in southern Tasmania. A third

recently logged coupe (WROO8B) served as a control site with non-baited

Malaise traps set up as in the other coupes. A Malaise trap was placed a few

metres away from each bait station and additional Malaise traps set in a

transect line at distances of 50 and 100 metres from the bait station. A total of

five Malaise traps were used in each transect. At the control coupe Malaise

Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4) 165

traps were set up at the same distances apart but without a bait station.

Malaise traps were run from October to June in 1999/2000 and 2000/2001.

The traps were emptied every month and on a weekly basis for three weeks

following each baiting period and the numbers of vespine wasps counted. In

late summer when natural protein sources were depleted and wasp

populations high, baits would be quickly found and eaten.

Bait stations were run for three days on each of three occasions (4-6"

December 1999 when queens were active following overwintering, 24-26"

March 2000 and 17-19" March 2001 when workers were very active). After

three days the bait blocks were inspected and the traps removed. Wasps

located the bait stations within several hours eliminating the need to pre-bait

the area. D’ Adamo et al. (2003) demonstrated that once V. germanica located

a bait source the visual stimulus of wasp activity guided other workers to that

site resulting in rapid removal of the bait.

Results

The initial baiting in December 1999 appeared to have little influence on the

numbers of queens captured in Malaise traps as there were similar numbers

of queens captured at baited and control sites (Table 1). Queens were

observed visiting the baits but very little bait was removed as the blocks

appeared relatively intact on the third day. This may indicate that foraging

queens are not focussed on protein collection but perhaps spend more time

collecting wood pulp for nest construction (Ravaret-Richter 2000).

Table 1. Effect of insecticide baiting on Vespula germanica queens following

overwintering.

Number of queens in Malaise trap

Cope Treatment Week Week Threetveete Nine weeks

prior to following FALE LITE after

baiting baiting 8 baiting

WRO0I1B Baited 2 5 15

WRO08H Baited 0 3 11

WR008B Not Baited 3 3 7 9

At the two treatment sites, baiting in March of both years resulted in a

marked decrease in the number of wasps collected in Malaise traps within 50

metres of the bait station. Figure l illustrates the mean number of wasps

collected combined for both baited sites pre- and post-baiting versus the

control site. In both cases most of the bait was removed from the bait station

during the first day and in all cases no bait remained on day three. The

populations of wasps at these sites did not recover appreciably in the three

weeks following baiting in either year.

166 Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4)

MEAN WASPS PER TRAP

l

SAMPLING PERIODS

Fig. 1. Impact of baiting on Vespula populations.

At the baiting sites (WR001B and WR008H) wasp numbers in Malaise traps

in the immediate vicinity of the bait traps declined on average by 98% within

one week of baiting. After three weeks the reduction in the Malaise trap

catches was still 96-98% of the pre-baiting. In contrast at the control site

(WR008B) the wasp numbers in Malaise traps at the centre of the coupe had

increased by an average of 23.5% after three weeks across both years.

At 50m from the bait station wasp captures in the baited coupes declined by

90-91% one week after baiting and by 77-90% after three weeks, compared

with the control coupe where wasp captures after three weeks were similar to

the initial levels.

At 100m from the bait stations wasp captures one week after baiting declined

by 56% in one coupe but increased by 5% in the other. The control had

increased by 23%. After three weeks one coupe had a reduction of 34% but

the other coupe had an increase of 55%. The control had increased in

population by 14%. Due to insufficient replication it is difficult to determine

any impact at the 100-metre range.

There was a marked reduction in wasp numbers at the baiting site and the 50-

metre distance from both baiting sites which persisted for at least three

weeks.

Discussion

Since arriving in Tasmania in 1959, the European wasp, V. germanica, has

spread throughout the state (Bashford 2001). The wasp colonises all open or

partly shaded sites where nest construction is possible. The discovery of a

second vespid species, the common wasp, V. vulgaris, in Tasmania

Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4) 167

Table 2: Impact of insecticide baiting on numbers of Vespula germanica

workers.

Number of wasps captured

Coupe WRO01B WR008H WR008B

Control-not

Treatment Baited Baited baited

Year 2000 2001 2000 2001 2000 2001

; Pre bait 41 35 31 24 31 50

Bait PP —

station ONES cE Post 1 0 0 1 Is 48

Malaises =baiting ——— aI... alm m—— Eli le kuki.

trap Three weeks post 0 1 1 1 35 7

baiting

Pre bait 31 46 19 33 22 37

50 metres One week post

VHHOĤ pam l 7 l 4 19 29

ily Three weeks post 3 4 5 7 25 36

baiting

100 Pre bait 31 28 42 48 27 56

metres CITERES ORIO 23 39 3 37 32 70

Malaises = baitin gest AS a ue A

trap Three weeks post 31 31 10 49 33 62

baiting

(Matthews et al. 2000) is of increased concern to forestry workers since it

also inhabits closed canopy areas of the forest, thus potentially increasing the

distribution of exotic vespine wasps in the state. Currently V. vulgaris is

restricted to the south and central north of the state where it competes for nest

sites with V. germanica, and therefore has thus not necessarily resulted in

overall increases in Vespula populations.

However V. vulgaris is able to form nests and forage in closed canopy forests

adjacent to open sites. This has resulted in an increase in the land area

occupied by introduced vespine species and in wetter forest types utilised by

the forest industries.

Both visual and olfactory cues are important to wasps seeking prey. Gaul

(1952) reported upwind flights to carrion as an important location technique.

December baiting was investigated following the work of Grant (1963) who

suggested that baits applied early in the wasp season would serve to reduce

populations of queens that had overwintered and thereby reduce nest

establishment. This trial suggests that this is probably not the case, as very

few queens were attracted to the baits in December.

168 Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4)

Spurr (1997) using a sardine based cat food containing sulfluramid, found

that wasp numbers were reduced by up to 90% within 10 days, while

Sackmann (2001) reported 87% reduction in wasp numbers, using a bait

consisting of 0.1% fibronil-laced minced beef, results comparable to those

reported here. In pre-testing of protein bases the current study found that in

warm weather both sardines and sardine based cat food developed hard crusts

within hours of exposure, rendering them unattractive to wasps, while

chicken nuggets were rarely visited. Initially, there was little difference

between fresh minced beef and minced kangaroo meat in their attractiveness

to wasps. However the kangaroo mince maintained its ‘attractiveness’ for

several days longer than minced beef when both were mixed with water

crystals. In areas of low nest density the addition of water crystals ensured

the baits stayed attractive over a longer period enabling foraging workers to

find and remove the baits.

The data obtained from the current study showed that bait stations reduced

high population densities by at least 77% over a radius of 50 metres.

However the results need to be verified by a more substantial trial

incorporating sufficient replication to provide a robust analysis of the data.

Forestry operations such as harvesting and road building provide numerous

opportunities for vespine wasps to establish nests. Subsequent operational

activities at these sites result in disturbance of foraging wasps and nest sites.

Forestry workers have been stung and high population numbers have resulted

in cessation of work activities. For forestry operations involving manual

labour such as pruning or thinning, it is recommended that bait stations be

established at 100m spacing along transects within coupes at least one week

prior to work commencement. Prior to thinning and pruning operations

surveys should be conducted to determine tree selection and areas and

observations of wasp activity made during these surveys to enable a decision

on the need for wasp treatment. Following baiting there would be at least a

three-week period when operations could be conducted without being

affected by foraging wasps.

The baiting system detailed in this paper has been adopted by forestry

planning managers in Tasmania and is used in both hardwood and softwood

coupes prior to thinning and pruning operations where high wasp populations

have been reported.

Acknowledgements

My thanks to members of the National European Wasp Workshop who

assisted with the initial field testing of baits at the Warra LTER site. Phil

Morrow (Bayer International) recommended and provided the Termidor“

insecticide for the trials.

This research was conducted under permit number PER7341 (for

experimental use of Fipronil in eucalypt plantations for the control of

Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4) 169

European and Common wasps) obtained from Australian Pesticides and

Veterinary Medicines Authority. I appreciate comments from Dr Tim

Wardlaw (Forestry Tasmania) on an earlier draft of this paper. Two referees

added greatly to the comprehension and layout of this paper.’

References

BASHFORD, R. 2001. The spread and impact of the introduced vespine wasps Vespula

germanica (F.) and Vespula vulgaris (L.) (Hymenoptera:Vespidae) in Tasmania. Australian

Entomologist 28(1): 1-12.

BEGGS, J.R., TOFT, R. J., MALHAM, J.P., REES, J.S., TILLEY, J.A.V., MOLLER, H., and

ALSPACH, P. 1998. The difficulty of reducing introduced wasp (Vespula vulgaris) populations

for conservation gains. New Zealand Journal of Ecology 22(1): 55-63.

BROWN, S.G.A. 2004. Clinical features and severity grading of anaphylaxis. The Journal of

Allergy and Clinical Immunology 114: 371-376.

CHANG, V. 1988. Toxic Baiting of the Western Yellowjacket (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) in

Hawaii. Journal of Economic Entomology 81(1): 288-235.

D'ADAMO, P., LOZADA, M., and CORLEY, J. 2003. Conspecifics enhance attraction of

Vespula germanica (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) foragers to food baits. Annals of the

Entomological Society of America 96(5): 685-688.

GAUL, A.T. 1952. Additions to vespine biology. X: Foraging and chemotaxis. Bulletin of the

Brooklyn Entomological Society 47: 138 -140.

GRANT, C.D., ROGERS, C.J. and LAURET, T.H. 1968. Control of ground nesting

yellowjackets with toxic baits — a five-year testing program. Journal of Economic Entomology

61(6): 1653-1656.

MATTHEWS, R.W., GOODISMAN, M.A.D., AUSTIN, A. D. and BASHFORD, R. 2000. The

introduced English Wasp, Vespula vulgaris (L.) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) newly recorded

invading native forests in Tasmania. Australian Journal of Entomology 39: 177-179.

PEREZ-PIMIENTO, A., PRIETO-LASTRA, L., RODRIGUEZ-CABREROS, M., REANO-

MARTOS, M., GARCIA-CUBERO, A. and CARCIA-LORIA, J. 2007.Work-related

anaphylaxis to wasp sting. Occupational Medicine 57: 602-604.

RAVERET-RICHTER, M. 2000. Social wasp (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) foraging behaviour.

Annual Review of Entomology 45: 121-150.

SACKMANN, P., RABINOVICH, M. and CORLEY, J.C. 2001. Successful removal of German

yellowjackets (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) by toxic baiting. Journal of Economic Entomology

94(4): 811-816.

SHIMIZU, T., HORI, T., TOKUYAMA, K., MORIKAWA, A. and KUROUME, T. 1995.

Clinical and immunologic surveys of Hymenoptera hypersensitivity in Japanese forestry

workers. Annuals Allergy Asthma Immunology 74: 495-500.

SPURR, E.B. 1997. Freeze-dried bait for wasp control. Proceedings 50" New Zealand Plant

Protection Conference Pp.401-404.

WARREN, I. and STATHAM, M. 2002. Control of European wasps (Vespula germanica) by

baiting. A confidential report to the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture Research Board. 15pp.

170 Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4)

A SUMMARY OF RECENT TAXONOMIC CHANGES IN THE

GENUS CHRYSOLARENTIA BUTLER, 1882 (LEPIDOPTERA:

GEOMETRIDAE)

!E.D. EDWARDS and °P. MARRIOTT

' ANIC, CSIRO Entomology, GPO Box 1700, Canberra 2601, ACT

? 8 Adam St, Bentleigh, Victoria

Recently a checklist of species of the genus Chrysolarentia Butler, 1882 was

published in the Victorian Entomologist (Edwards and Marriott 2010).

Several taxonomic decisions were made which affect the standard checklist

of Australian Lepidoptera (Neilsen et a/. 1996). Justifications for decisions

are provided in the original paper. A summary of the changes made is as

follows:

1. C. insulsata (Guenĉe, [1858]) and C. correlata (Walker, 1862), treated as

synonyms by McQuillan and Edwards (1996) are reinstated as separate

species.

2. C. argodesma (Meyrick, 1891) is placed in Chrysolarentia.

3. C. pentodonta (Lower, 1915) is transferred to Chrysolarentia and treated

as a junior synonym of C. gypsomela (Lower, 1892).

4. C. trygodes (Meyrick, 1891), C. crocota (Turner, 1904) and C.

phaulophanes (Turner, 1936) were listed as separate species in Nielsen et al.

(1996). The latter two are considered junior synonyms of C. trygodes.

5. C. tristis (Butler, 1882) and C. caesia (Turner, 1904) represent the two

sexes of the same species with the former taking priority.

References

EDWARDS, E.D. and MARRIOTT, P., 2010. Checklist of Victorian carpets (Lepidoptera,

Geometridae, Larentiinae) — Part A: The genus Chrysolarentia Butler, 1882. Victorian

Entomologist 40: 88-90.

NIELSEN, E.S., EDWARDS, E.D. and RANGSI, V. (Eds) 1996. Checklist ofthe Lepidoptera of

Australia. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood; xiv + 529 pp.

McQUILLAN, P.B. and EDWARDS, E.D. 1996. Geometridae. Pp. 200-228. In Nielsen, E.S.,

Edwards, E.D. & Rangsi, V. (Eds) Checklist of the Lepidoptera of Australia. CSIRO Publishing,

Collingwood; xiv + 529 pp.

Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4): 171-177 171

TWO NEW SPECIES OF THE ENDEMIC AUSTRALIAN GOBLIN

SPIDER GENUS CAVISTERNUM (ARANEAE: OONOPIDAE) FROM

QUEENSLAND

L 2BARBARA C. BAEHR and “MARK HARVEY

‘Queensland Museum, P.O. Box 3300, South Brisbane, Old 4101, Australia

BarbaraB(Qqm.qld.gov.au

2CSER, School of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW

2308, Australia

Barbara.Baehr@newcastle.edu.au (corresponding author)

Western Australian Museum, Locked Bag 49, Welshpool DC, WA 6986, Australia.

mark. harveyv@museum.wa.gov.au

Abstract

Two new species, Cavisternum federicae sp. nov. and Cavisternum monteithi sp. nov. are

described, taking the number of species in this endemic Australian genus to 21 (Baehr et al.

2010). C. federicae sp. nov. is the first species collected in rainforest.

Introduction

The Oonopidae is a megadiverse spider family with over 600 described

species in 76 genera (Platnick 2010) and about 2500 expected species

worldwide. These small spiders (0.5-4.0 mm), commonly known as goblin

spiders, possess only 6 eyes and generally have an armour of abdominal

scutae. They are quite common in most terrestrial habitats, in litter, under

bark and even in forest canopy (Platnick and Dupérré 2009a, b). The goblin

spider fauna is most diverse in the tropical and subtropical regions (Platnick

and Dupérré 2010) but they also occur in high altitudes of the Himalayan

Mountains (Baehr and Ubick in press).

Species of Cavisternum are united by the peculiar morphology of the male

mouthparts and sternum. In particular, the sternum has a concave depression

covered with clavate setae and the fangs are broadened at the tip (Baehr et al.

2010). The genus is found in tropical northern Australia and shows high

endemicity, with most species recorded from only a single location (Baehr et

al. 2010). This paper is part of the world-wide revision of the family

Oonopidae, conducted by the “Goblin Spider PBI” project (see

http://research.amnh.org/oonopidae/). Spiders of this recently described

genus have been found in pitfall trap samples, litter extractions and on bark.

They occur over the northern part of Australia. The majority of locations

from which these spiders were collected are generally low rainfall sites, with

open woodland vegetation.

Material and Methods

Specimens were examined using a LEICA MZI6A microscope.

Photomicrographic images were produced using a Leica DFC 500 and the

software program AutoMontage Pro Version 5.02. The description was

generated with the aid of the PBI descriptive goblin spider database

172 Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4)

mentioning only the differences to the genus description. Drawings are done

from left palp. All measurements are in millimetres. Scales of drawings are

0.5 mm for habitus lateral and 0.1 mm for palps. Abbreviations are used in

the text as follows: ALE, anterior lateral eyes; PLE, posterior lateral eyes;

PME, posterior median eyes.

Systematics

Family Oonopidae Simon, 1890

Cavisternum Baehr, Harvey and Smith, 2010.

Type Species: Cavisternum clavatum Baehr, Harvey and Smith, 2010:

6-13; figs. 1, 4, 7, 26-83; mapl.

Diagnosis: Males of this genus can easily be recognized and separated from

all other oonopid genera by the concave sternum covered with clavate setae

(Figs 2, 5) and the fangs with broadened tips.

Cavisternum federicae sp. nov.

Figures 1-13, 27

Holotype: AUSTRALIA: Queensland, Capricorn Caves, campground, 100m

rainforest, 23°26’S, 150°49’E, barkspray (15 April 2010, G. Monteith, F. Turco)

(PBI OON 00023431), deposited in QM (S88300).

Etymology: The species name is an eponymous noun in the genitive case in

honour of Dr Federica Turco, an extraordinary beetle expert who collected

the holotype.

Diagnosis: Males resemble those of C. rochesterae with median concavity

occupying about 2/3 of sternal length, 2/3 of sternal width and epigastric

scutum protruding but can be easily separated by the complex bulbal tip with

a conductor consisting of two equally long prolateral projections and a

complex folded embolus (Figs 8-13).

Male: Total length 1.20. Carapace, mouthparts and abdominal scutae red-

brown, without any pattern (Figs 1-3), pars cephalica slightly elevated in

lateral view (Fig. 7), carapace lateral margin with blunt denticles (Fig. 6).

Clypeus margin slightly rebordered (Fig. 4), vertical in lateral view. Eyes

ALE:0.045; PME:0.051; PLE:0.044, ALE circular, PME oval, PLE circular;

posterior eye row straight from both above and front; ALE separated by their

radius to diameter, ALE-PLE touching, PME touching for less than half their

length, PLE-PME touching. Sternum, pale orange, uniform, not fused to

carapace, median concavity occupying about 2/3 of sternal length, 2/3 of

sternal width covered with field of clavate setae (Fig. 5). Chelicerae straight,

anterior face unmodified; fang tip distally widened. Labium and endites much

more heavily sclerotized than sternum. Endites anteromedian part strongly

excavated with medially directed tooth-like projection. Abdomen cylindrical,

rounded posteriorly. Epigastric scutum not extending far dorsal of pedicel.

Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4) 173

Figs 1-13. Cavisternum federicae sp. nov., male (PBI OON 23431): (1) Habitus,

dorsal view; (2) Same, ventral view; (3) Same, lateral view; (4) Prosoma, frontal

view; (5) Same, ventral view; (6) Same, dorsal view; (7) Same, lateral view; (8) Palp

prolateral view; (9) Same, dorsal view; (10) Same, retrolateral view; (11) Palp

(drawing) prolateral view; (12) Same, dorsal view; (13) Same, retrolateral view.

Scutae weakly sclerotized, covering full length of abdomen, no soft tissue

visible from above, not fused to epigastric scutum, surface smooth.

Postepigastric scutum covering nearly full of abdominal length. Legs yellow,

174 Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4)

without colour pattern; patella plus tibia I shorter than carapace. Epigastric

region with small sperm pore, strongly protruding extension between sperm

pore and anterior spiracles. Palp proximal segments yellow; embolus dark,

femur attaching to patella basally (Figs 8, 10, 11, 13); patella about as long as

femur; cymbium square in dorsal view (Figs 9, 12), cymbium-bulb complex

square with big additional cymbial prodistal tooth, bulbal tip with a

conductor consisting of 2 spine-like prolateral projections, with a complex,

folded embolus (Figs 11, 13).

Female: Unknown.

Distribution: Known only from the type locality in south east Queensland.

Cavisternum monteithi, new species

Figures 14-27

Holotype: AUSTRALIA: Queensland, Barakula SF. Stockyard Rd., 26°32’S,

150°44’E, barkspray (10 Feb. 2010, G. Monteith, F. Turco) (PBI OON

00023434), deposited in QM (S88459).

Etymology: The species name is an eponymous noun in the genitive case in

honour of Dr. Geoff Monteith, former Senior Curator of the Queensland

Museum and a tremendous collector of invertebrates who collected the

holotype.

Diagnosis: Males resemble those of C. rochesterae in having a cymbial

prodistal tooth but can be separated by the median concavity occupying about

3/4 of sternal length, 1/2 of sternal width, the strongly protruding epigastric

scutum (Figs 15, 18) the complex bulbal tip with bifurcal conductor and

curled embolus (Figs 21-26).

Male: Total length 1.17. Carapace and scutae brown, lateral margin without

denticles; ALE:0.046; PME:0.048; PLE:0.041, ALE circular (Fig. 17), PME

squared, PLE circular; posterior eye row straight from above (Fig. 19); ALE

separated by less than their radius, ALE-PLE touching, PME touching

throughout most of their length, PLE-PME touching. Sternum pale orange,

with oval median concavity covering 3/4 of sternum length and 1/2 of

sternum width (Fig. 18). Chelicerae, endites and labium yellow-brown.

Endites distally excavated, anteromedian part deeply indented with tooth like

projection medially. Abdomen ovoid (Fig. 14). Epigastric scutum strongly

protruding (Figs 16, 20). Postepigastric scutum covering nearly full length of

abdominal length (Fig. 15). Legs yellow, patella plus tibia I shorter than

carapace (Fig. 20). Epigastric region with small, oval sperm pore; midway

between sperm pore and anterior spiracles a strongly protruding extension

(Fig. 18). Palpal femur attaching to patella subbasally (Fig. 21); patella about

as long as femur; cymbium with prodistal knob (Fig. 25), bulb pear-shaped,

bulbal tip with bifurcate conductor and curled embolus (Figs 24-26).

Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4) 175

Figs 14-26. Cavisternum monteithi sp. nov., male (PBI OON 23434): (14) Habitus,

dorsal view; (15) Same, ventral view; (16) Same, lateral view; (17) Prosoma, frontal

view; (18) Same, ventral view; (19) Same, dorsal view; (20) Same, lateral view; (21)

Palp prolateral view; (22) Same, dorsal view; (23) Same, retrolateral view; (24) Palp

(drawing) prolateral view; (25) Same, dorsal view; (26) Same, retrolateral view.

176 Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4)

Female: Unknown.

Distribution: Known only from the type locality in south east Queensland.

Fig. 27. Distribution of Cavisternum federicae sp. nov. (circle) and Cavisternum

monteithi sp. nov. (square) in Australia.

Acknowledgements

This paper would not have been completed without the support of the

National Science Foundation's PBI (Planetary Biodiversity Inventory)

program provided through grant DEB - 0613754. We thank Federica Turco

and Geoff Monteith for collecting the well preserved holotypes, Robert

Raven and Owen Seeman (Queensland Museum, Brisbane, QM) for loan of

the material and great support of the work.

References

BAEHR, B.C., HARVEY, M.S. and SMITH, H.M. 2010. The goblin spiders of the new endemic

Australian genus Cavisternum (Araneae: Oonopidae). American Museum Novitates 3684: 1-40.

BAEHR, B.C., and UBICK, D. in press. The goblin spiders of the Asian genus

Camptoscaphiella Caporiacco 1934 (Araneae: Oonopidae). American Museum Novitates

Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4) 177

PLATNICK, N.I. and DUPERRE, N. 2009a. The American goblin spiders of the new genus

Escaphiella (Araneae, Oonopidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 328: 1-

151. :

PLATNICK, N.I. and DUPERRE, N. 2009b. The goblin spider genera Opopaea and Epectris

(Araneae, Oonopidae) in the New World. American Museum Novitates 3649: 1-43.

PLATNICK, N.I. and DUPERRE, N. 2010. The goblin spiders genus Scaphiella (Araneae,

Oonopidae). Bulletin ofthe American Museum of Natural History 332: 1-156.

178 Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4)

BOOK REVIEW

A Guide to the Beetles of Australia by George Hangay and Paul Zborowski.

CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne, 2010, 248 pp., $44.95.

This attractive book is the latest addition to the soft-covered, semi-popular, handbook

series on Australian insects from CSIRO Publishing which, since 2004, has covered

butterflies (2004), dragonflies (2006), moths (2007) phasmids (2009) and katydids

(2010). The size of the particular group covered governs the sort of treatment

received. Thus the butterflies, dragonflies and phasmids are treated to species level

and enjoy the title "The Complete Field Guide to...." whereas the more numerous

moths and katydids are given an overview treatment and are called simply "4 Guide

to....". Having more than 30,000 Australian species the megadiverse beetles fall very

much into the latter camp, and thus we have another "Guide..." before us.

The authors have made an heroic attempt to get across this enormous group of

animals in a small guide book and they have both succeeded and failed. The

photographic coverage is very good and almost 90 families are shown in more than

400 colour photographs, many of them for the first time in an Australian publication.

However the good coverage has come at the price of rather too many being apparently

dead specimens, probably taken at light and posed on out-of-context green leaf

backgrounds, examples being the crumpled specimens of Talyra on p.168 and Titaena

on p.179. The geographic coverage of photographed species is very much slanted to

north Queensland where Paul Zborowski resides; fine by us Queenslanders but

probably disappointing for readers elsewhere. The accuracy of identification of the

images is reasonable given the fraught task involved in putting names to Australian

beetles. There's a smattering of errors but the most outstanding is that of the exciting

picture by Owen Kelly of a living specimen of the extremely rare Omma stanleyi

(Ommatidae) which is attributed to a species in another family (Cupedidae).

The body text has a long illustrated introduction dealing with many general aspects of

beetles including life histories, food, behaviour and anatomy. The anatomy section

has a rather strange depiction of the dorsal sclerites of the head which needs revision.

One important omission from morphology is an explanation of the basic strial pattern

on beetle elytra which is critical to the classification of many groups. In the

description of antennal types the term "plumose" is incorrectly used for ptilodactylid

antennae and should be "flabellate".

At the core of the book are the family treatments. These use up-to-date definitions of

the families which is one of the positives of the book. A lot of unfamilar overseas

common names are used for families and these are probably a lost cause in Australia.

For example I fear it is too late to try to bring in the name "shining leaf chafers" for

the Rutelinae which we have known familiarly as "Christmas beetles" for more than a

century.

However, notwithstanding these several obvious flaws, the book is a long way ahead

of any alternative in Australia for popular treatment of our enormous beetle fauna and

should be bought, read and used. It needs a lot of minor corrections and I'm sure that

these will be brought to the attention of the authors, and we can look forward to an

improved second edition in due course.

Geoff Monteith, Queensland Museum

Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4): 179-183 179

THE IDENTITY OF SELIDOSEMA ZYGOPHORA LOWER, 1893

(LEPIDOPTERA: GEOMETRIDAE: ENNOMINAE)

E.D. EDWARDS

CSIRO Entomology, GPO Box 1700, Canberra, ACT, 2601,

ted.edwards@csiro.au

Abstract

The Australian Selidosema zygophora Lower is shown to be a junior subjective synonym of

Pseudocoremia suavis (Butler) from New Zealand. P. suavis is a very common insect in New

Zealand and a significant pest of Pinus radiata plantations. In view of the fact that the two

specimens mentioned by Lower are the only ones known from Australia it is conjectured that

they are mislabelled specimens from New Zealand and it is recommended that the name should

be omitted from the Australian list.

Introduction

Selidosema zygophora Lower, 1893 was described from two specimens

collected by Mr W.H.F. Hill at Croydon, Victoria. One of these specimens

was given to Oswald Lower by Hill. The Lower collection in the SAMA

contains a single specimen labelled as Selidosema zygophora. In the

preparation of the Checklist of the Lepidoptera of Australia (McQuillan &

Edwards 1996) this species posed a problem. There were no conspecific

specimens in the ANIC nor were specimens subsequently found in the MV

(Marriott and Hewish pers. comm.) or other collections examined. The

syntype in the SAMA was the only known extant specimen and the specimen

retained by Hill appeared to be lost. The species clearly did not belong in the

genus Selidosema (a European and North African genus with type species

Geometra plumaria [Denis & Schiffermiiller, 1775]) (Scoble 1999) and was

equally clearly not closely related to any other known Australian taxon. In the

absence of further information it was placed in an unknown genus at the

beginning of the Ennominae, Boarmiini.

Interest in the species revived in the early stages of preparation of the

Geometridae section of Moths of Victoria where clearly the species had to be

accounted for. By coincidence a chance examination of Hudson (1928), in

which pl. XVI fig. 18 depicted a moth very similar to a photograph of the

syntype of S. zygophora, led to the hypothesis that S. zygophora was in fact a

New Zealand moth. This illustration was identified by Hudson as Selidosema

suavis Butler, 1879. The genus Pseudocoremia Butler, 1877 (type species

Selidosema fragosata Felder & Rogenhofer, 1875, a junior subjective

synonym of Larentia productata Walker, 1862) was adopted in New Zealand

for P. suavis and its relatives about 1975 (Dugdale 1975).

This tentative identification was subsequently checked by dissection of the

syntype and comparison with identified modern New Zealand specimens.

180 Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4)

The following abbreviations are used for the Australian National Insect

Collection (ANIC), the Museum of Victoria (MV), the New Zealand

Arthropod Collection (NZAC) and the South Australian Museum (SAMA)

Figs 1-4: (1) Adult male, Pseudocoremia suavis, Mahinapua, NZ (NZAC) (Wingspan

31mm); (2) Lectotype Selidosema zygophora (SAMA) (Wingspan 32mm); (3) Male

genitalia (aedeagus omitted), P. suavis, Laingholm, NZ (NZAC); (4) Male genitalia

(valvae broken and aedeagus omitted), Lectotype, S. zygophora (SAMA).

Identification

The genus Pseudocoremia contains a suite of at least 27 New Zealand species

(Dugdale 1988, Stephens & Gibbs 2003, Stephens et a/. 2007), one from

Norfolk Island and one from the Chatham Islands. Characters which permit

the identification of P. suavis include the markedly outward bend in the

median lines of the forewing when approaching the dorsum, these lines are

darker near the dorsum, the male genitalia (the form of the valva, the

processes on the valva and the juxta) and the form of the fovea (Dugdale

pers. comm.; Stephens 2001). The syntype of S. zygophora and the modern

Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4) 181

New Zealand specimens of P. suavis (Figs 1-4) agree very closely in these

features except that the syntype has had the tips of the valvae damaged at

some time in the past. These specimens also agree closely with the

illustrations of P. suavis male genitalia given by Stephens (2001). The

agreement of these characters leaves no doubt that P. zygophora and P.

suavis are conspecific. Fortunately the name P. suavis has 14 years priority

over the name P. zygophora.

Type

In order to fix the identity of S. zygophora Lower the syntype labelled “Sel:

zygophora Lower 2497” “Type” “2497 Caulfield” “Specimen photog for

Checklist Aust. Lep. Film 28/11” “SAMA Database Number 31-001789” in

the SAMA, Adelaide, is here designated as LECTOTYPE.

Discussion

Lower”s unpublished collection registers, both the superseded one and the

final one, contain the entry “zygophora” without further information and

without a Lower species number. However the labels on the SAMA specimen

do have a Lower species number, namely 2497. It is noteworthy that the

locality label of Caulfield on the specimen also bears Lower’s number so it is

not an original locality label received from Hill. In his original description

Lower did not give “Caulfield” which is on the label but gave “Croydon,

Victoria”. This discrepancy adds credence to the hypothesis that the specimen

may be a mislabelled New Zealand specimen. However Reed (2002)

mentions no place in New Zealand of the name of Caulfield although there is

a Croydon beside the Hokonui Hills and there is a nearby forest remnant,

Croydon Bush, in Southland. Hill lived at Windsor, Victoria, which is near

Caulfield and both are southeast of the City of Melbourne, but Croydon is

some distance away to the east of the City, although Hill did collect widely

on what was then the eastern outskirts of Melbourne and near Ballarat.

P. suavis is a common widespread species found throughout New Zealand

except the Subantarctic Islands (Hudson 1928, Dugdale 1958). Its biology

has been recorded by Hudson 1928, Dugdale 1958 and Berndt et al. 2004,

and it is known to feed on a wide range of trees and shrubs including Kunzea,

Leptospermum, Metrosideros, Nothofagus, Phyllocladus, Podocarpus and the

introduced Cupressus, Eucalyptus, Pinus and Pseudotsuga among many

others (Dugdale 1958). In New Zealand it is a significant defoliator of

plantations of Pinus radiata with periodic outbreaks causing severe damage

(Zondag 1968, White 1974, Kay 1983). It is not confined to forests and is

also common in suburbia.

Conclusion

S. zygophora is a junior subjective synonym of P. suavis. In view of its

ubiquity and pest status in New Zealand it is very unlikely that a cryptic

population has persisted in Melbourne for 117 years without rediscovery. It is

182 Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4)

therefore concluded that the species is no longer present, if it ever was, in

Australia and that the specimens supposedly from Australia are, in all

probability, mislabelled New Zealand specimens. The species can be omitted

from the Australian list.

Acknowledgements

Many people have kindly made important contributions to this paper. Leonie

Clunie, John Dugdale, George Gibbs, Marilyn Hewish, Robert Hoare,

Marianne Horak, Peter Hudson, Peter Marriott, You Ning Su, Helen

Tongway. Specimens have been kindly lent by SAMA and NZAC. Andrea

Stephens generously made a copy of her unpublished MSc thesis available.

John Dugdale has very kindly checked the manuscript to detect the naiveties

almost inevitable when an Australian blunders into the New Zealand fauna.

References

BERNDT, L., BROCKERHOFF, E.G., JACTEL, H., WEIS, T. and BEATON, J. 2004. Biology

and rearing of Pseudocoremia suavis, an endemic looper (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) with a

history of outbreaks on exotic conifers. New Zealand Entomologist 27: 73-82.

DUGDALE, J.S. 1958. Structural characters of the larvae of Selidosema suavis (Butler)

(Lepidoptera: Geometridae, Subfamily Ennominae). New Zealand Entomologist 2(3): 24-33.

DUGDALE, J.S. 1975. XV. The insects in relation to plants. Pp. 561-589. Jn Kuschel, W. (Ed.)

Biogeography and Ecology in New Zealand. W. Junk, The Hague.

DUGDALE, J.S. 1988. Lepidoptera - annotated catalogue, and keys to family-group taxa. Fauna

of New Zealand Number 14. Science Information Publishing Centre, DSIR, Wellington.

HUDSON, G.V. 1928. The butterflies and moths of New Zealand. Ferguson and Osborn,

Wellington.

KAY, M.K. 1983. Predicting outbreaks of Pseudocoremia suavis on Douglas Fir. New Zealand

Journal of Forestry 28: 68-72.

LOWER, O.B. 1893. Descriptions of new Australian Heterocera. Transactions of the Royal

Society of South Australia 17: 287-293.

McQUILLAN, P.B. and EDWARDS, E.D. 1996. Geometroidea. pp 200-228. Jn NIELSEN, E.S.

et al. (Eds). Checklist of the Lepidoptera of Australia.CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood.

REED, A.W. 2002. The Reed Dictionary of New Zealand Place Names. (3 Edition). Reed

Books, Auckland.

SCOBLE, M.J. (Ed.) 1999. Geometrid moths of the World. A catalogue (Lepidoptera,

Geometridae). Vol 2. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood.

STEPHENS, A.E.A. 2001. Pseudocoremia (Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Ennominae):

Systematics, biogeography and host plant associations. Unpublished MSc (Hons) thesis, Victoria

University of Wellington, New Zealand.

STEPHENS, A.E.A. and GIBBS, G.W. 2003. Two new species of Pseudocoremia and

reinstatement of P. pergrata as species (Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Ennominae). New Zealand

Entomologist 26: 61-64.

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STEPHENS, A.E.A., GIBBS, G.W. and PATRICK, B.H. 2007. Three new species in the

Pseudocoremia modica (Philpott, 1921) complex (Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Ennominae) and

their evolutionary relationships. New Zealand Entomologist 30: 71-78.

WHITE, T.C.R. 1974. A hypothesis to explain outbreaks of looper caterpillars, with special

reference to populations of Selidosema suavis in a plantation of Pinus radiata in New Zealand.

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184 Australian Entomologist, 2010, 37 (4)

RECENT LITERATURE

Compiled by Max Moulds (msmoulds@bigpond.net.au) & Editor

An ongoing selection of literature published since Daniels' Bibliography of Australian

Entomology 1687-2000. Details of your publications for inclusion are always

welcome.

EWART, A.E. and MARQUES, D.

2008. A new genus of grass cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadoidea: Cicadidae) from Queensland,

with descriptions of their songs. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 52: 149-202.

FAITHFUL, I.

2008. Kurrajong leaf-tier Dichocrocis clytusalis (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in north-

east Victoria. Victorian Entomologist 38: 5-7.

FAITHFUL, I.

2008. Danaid eggfly Hypolimnas misippus in Victoria? Victorian Entomologist 38: 31-35.

HILL, K. and MARSHALL, D.

2009. A predatory katydid that is an aggressive mimic of cicadas. News Bulletin of the

Entomological Society of Queensland 36: 276-278.

HUGHES, L.

2008. Being really "in the poo". Metamorphosis Australia, Magazine of the Butterfly and

Other Invertebrates Club 50: 6-10. [ Popular style article on dung beetles.]

KALLIES, A. and DOUGLAS, F.

2008. Checklist of the Victorian ghost moths (Lepidoptera, Ditrysia, Hepialidae). Victorian

Entomologist 38: 50-56.

KALLIES, A. and DOUGLAS, F.

2009. Corriggendum and addendum to the checklist of the Victorian ghost moths (Lepidoptera,

Ditrysia, Hepialidae). Victorian Entomologist 39: 212-122.

KLUMPP, J.

2008. Australian native bees #14. War and Peace — part 2. Metamorphosis Australia,

Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club 50: 23-26.

KORB, J.

2008. The ecology of social evolution in termites. In: Korb, J. and Heinze, J. (eds), Ecology

of social evolution. pp. 151-174. Springer Press, Heidelberg. [Chapter is mainly

about Northern Territory termites.]

LONSDALE, O.

2009. The Heteromeringia (Diptera: Clusiidae: Clusiodinae) of Australia. Records of the

Australian Museum 61: 229-262.

TENNENT, W.J.

2008. A note on the occurrence of Junonia orithya (Linnaeus, 1758) in the Federated States of

Micronesia (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae). Victorian Entomologist 38: 57-58.

THEISCHINGER, G.

2009. Dragonfly genera new to Australia and Queensland (Odonata: _ Isostictidae,

Austrocorduliidae). Victorian Entomologist 39: 115-120.

TIMMS, B.V.

2008. The ecology of episodic saline lakes of inland eastern Australia, as exemplified by a ten

year study of the Rockwell-Wombah Lakes of the Paroo. Proceedings of the Linnean

Society of New South Wales 129: 1-16.

ENTOMOLOGICAL NOTICES

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Printed by ABC Printing, 2 Dorsey Street, Milton, 4064.

THE AUSTRALIAN

Entomologist

Volume 37, Part 4, 20 November 2010

CONTENTS

BAEHR, B.C. and HARVEY, M.

Two new species of the endemic Australian goblin spider genus

Cavisternum (Araneae: Oonopidae) from Queensland.

BASHFORD, R.

Development of an insecticide baiting system applicable for the control

of exotic Vespula (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) wasp species in Tasmanian

forestry operation sites.

BRABY, M.F., WORSNOP, A., YATA, O. and TUPPER, A.

First record of Appias albina infuscata Fruhstorfer, 1910 (Lepidoptera:

Pieridae) from Australia.

EDWARDS, E.D.

The identity of Selidosema zygophora Lower, 1893 (Lepidoptera:

Geometridae: Ennominae).

EDWARDS, E.D. and MARRIOTT, P.

A summary of recent taxonomic changes in the genus Chrysolarentia

Butler, 1882 (Lepidoptera: Geometridae).

LAMBKIN, T.A.

The early stages of Euploea tulliolus tulliolus (Fabricius) (Lepidoptera:

Nymphalidae: Danainae) from Brisbane, Queensland.

ORR, A.G. and KALKMAN, V.J.

Arrbenocnemis parvibullis sp. nov. (Odonata: Platycnemididae), a new

calicnemiine damselfly from Papua New Guinea, with a description of

the female of A. amphidactylis Lieftinck, 1949.

POPPLE, L.W. and EMERY, D.L.

A new cicada genus and a redescription of Pauropsalta subolivacea

Ashton (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) from eastern Australia.

BOOK REVIEW

A Guide to the Beetles of Australia, G. Hangay and P. Zborowski.

RECENT LITERATURE

ISSN 1320 6133

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