Published December 15, 2021 | Version v1
Taxonomic treatment Open

Pseudholophylla Blackburn 1911

  • 1. Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development WA (Quarantine WA), Locked Bag 69, Welshpool DC, Western Australia 6986, Australia.
  • 2. Queensland Museum, PO Box 3300, South Brisbane, Queensland 4101, Australia.

Description

Pseudholophylla Blackburn, 1911

Holophylla Burmeister, 1855: 426 (junior homonym of Holophylla Erichson, 1847). Type species: Holophylla furfuracea Burmeister, 1855, by monotypy.

Pseudholophylla Blackburn, 1911: 183 (replacement name for Holophylla Burmeister, 1855).

Paralepidiota Blackburn, 1911: 196; Britton 1978: 33 (synonym). Type species: Paralepidiota lepidoptera Blackburn, 1912, by subsequent monotypy (Blackburn 1912).

Diagnosis. Dorsal surface, pronotal hypomera, and anterior faces of profemora and protibiae bearing elliptical or elongate-pointed white scales; surface of clypeus, pronotum, and scutellum without long, backwardly directed setae; labrum deeply excavated anteriorly; antennae of males with antennomeres 4–10 or 5–10 lamellate; clypeus with anterior face moderately deep, greatest width 5.5–7.5 times mid depth, outline broadly rounded, usually slightly depressed in middle of anterior edge; upper surface of clypeus strongly concave; protarsal claws with a prominent tooth; anterior edge of metafemur not concave near base; lower spur of metatibiae narrow, thick and tapered, upper spur broadly expanded.

Key to males (females are largely unknown)

1 Each paramere with a transverse pre-apical process (Figs. 11, 13)............................................... 2

- Each paramere without a transverse pre-apical process (Figs. 8–10, 12).......................................... 3

2 Antenna with the lamella of antennomere 4 approximately two-fifths to half length of lamella of antennomere 5; scales on head, pronotum, elytra, metepisternum, abdominal ventrites, and legs elongate and acutely pointed; scales on anterior surface of profemora and pronotal hypomera very elongate to setae-like; sternum, metepisternum, metepimeron, and metacoxae densely clothed with long, pale setae; pygidium with sparse, evenly distributed white microsetae; body colour yellow brown, length approximately 27.4–30.0 mm (Figs. 1–7); parameres with apices rounded and recurved, as in Fig. 13; Northern Territory ....................................................... Pseudholophylla hurai Hutchinson & Allsopp, new species

- Antenna with antennomere 4 angulate but not lamellate, antennal club of 6 nearly equal lamellae; dorsal surface with sparse, elliptical white scales, abdominal ventrites with dense white scales; body colour reddish brown, length approximately 23 mm; parameres with apices elongate, as in Fig. 11; northeastern Queensland ...... Pseudholophylla lepidoptera (Blackburn, 1912)

3 Antenna with lamella of antennomere 4 approximately one-third as long as lamella of antennomere 5; terminal palpomere of maxillary palp with flat elliptical area on upper surface; aedeagus as in Fig. 8; northwestern Western Australia ........................................................................ Pseudholophylla castaneipennis (Macleay, 1888)

- Antenna with lamella of antennomere 4 more than half as long as lamella of antennomere 5; terminal palpomere of maxillary palp with an elliptical concavity of the upper surface; northern Australia .......................................... 4

4 Scales on frons and pronotum broadly elliptical, almost circular; antenna with lamella of antennomere 4 approximately twothirds as long as lamella of antennomere 5, pronotal hypomera and anterior face of profemora with a dense clothing of large white scales; body colour pale yellowish brown, length approximately 21 mm (Weir et al. 2019, Plate 64K; Allsopp 2020b, Figs. 60–62); parameres apical third very constricted in ventral view, as in Fig. 9; northeastern Queensland ................................................................................... Pseudholophylla cavifrons (Lea, 1919)

- Scales on frons and pronotum elongate and acutely pointed; antenna with lamella of antennomere 4 as long as lamella of antennomere 5; scales on pronotal hypomera and anterior face of profemora acutely pointed, almost seta-like; parameres with apices linear or tapering but not constricted in ventral view.......................................................... 5

5 Antenna with antennomere 3 broadly triangular; upper surface of clypeus very sparsely punctate; posterior margin of pronotum with a sparse fringe of fine, erect, pale setae; parameres as in Fig. 10; unknown distribution......................................................................................... Pseudholophylla furfuracea (Burmeister, 1855)

- Antenna with antennomere 3 elongate; upper surface of clypeus densely punctate; posterior margin of pronotum without fringe of erect setae; parameres as in Fig. 12; northwestern Western Australia ............. Pseudholophylla soror Britton, 1978

Notes

Published as part of Hutchinson, Paul M. & Allsopp, Peter G., 2021, Australian Melolonthini (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae): a sixth species of Pseudholophylla Blackburn, 1911, and notes on the other known species, pp. 30-40 in Zootaxa 5082 (1) on pages 31-39, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5082.1.3, http://zenodo.org/record/5783154

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Linked records

Additional details

Biodiversity

Family
Melolonthidae
Genus
Pseudholophylla
Kingdom
Animalia
Order
Coleoptera
Phylum
Arthropoda
Scientific name authorship
Blackburn
Taxon rank
genus
Taxonomic concept label
Pseudholophylla Blackburn, 1911 sec. Hutchinson & Allsopp, 2021

References

  • Blackburn, T. (1911) Further notes on Australian Coleoptera, with descriptions of new genera and species. No. XLI. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 35, 173 - 203.
  • Burmeister, H. C. C. (1855) Handbuch der Entomologie. Coleoptera Lamellicornia Phyllophaga Chaenochela. Vol. 4. Part 2. Reimer, Berlin. [unknown pagination]
  • Britton, E. B. (1978) A revision of the Australian chafers (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae). Vol. 2. Tribe Melolonthini. Australian Journal of Zoology, Supplementary Series, 60, 1 - 150. https: // doi. org / 10.1071 / AJZS 060
  • Blackburn, T. (1912) Further notes on Australian Coleoptera, with descriptions of new genera and species. No. XLII. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 36, 40 - 75.
  • Macleay, W. (1888) The insects of King's Sound and its vicinity. Part II. The lamellicornes. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, Series 2, 3, 897 - 924. https: // doi. org / 10.5962 / bhl. part. 29226
  • Lea, A. M. (1919) Notes on some miscellaneous Coleoptera with descriptions of new species. Part V. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 43, 166 - 261.
  • Weir, T. A., Lawrence, J. F., Lemann, C. & Gunter, N. L. (2019) Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae Leach, 1819. In: Slipinski, A. & Lawrence, J. F. (Eds.), Australian Beetles. Vol. 2. Archostemata, Myxophaga, Adephaga, Polyphaga (part). CSIRO Publishing, Clayton South, pp. 467 - 507.
  • Allsopp, P. G. (2020 b) Clarification of the status of the types of Australian Melolonthini (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae) described before 1950. Zootaxa, 4885 (4), 451 - 486. https: // doi. org / 10.11646 / zootaxa. 4885.4.1