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Callidemum Blanchard |
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Callidemum limbatum (Baly) |
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Callidemum hypochalceum (Germar)
Scale bar equals 1 mm |
Species found in New South Wales: Callidemum gibbosum (Baly), C. hypochalceum (Germar), C. limbatum (Baly), C. ornatum (Baly), C. parryi (Baly), C. poropterum (Baly), C. prasinum (Baly), C. submetallicum (Baly).
Description
Length: 5 - 12 mm; body moderately elongate to short and squat (length to width ratio ranges from 1.3:1 to 2:1), moderately to strongly convex (length to height ratio ranges from 1.8:1 to 2.5:1).
Head: Not or slightly contracted behind non-protuberant eyes; frons without vertical groove beside inner margin of eye, frontoclypeal grooves rounded, V or M shaped; first segment of maxillary palp ventrally convex, without sharp leading edge; apical segment of maxillary palp strongly expanded from base to truncate apex; apical margin of mentum truncate or shallowly concave
Thorax: Pronotum broadest at middle or base; trichobothrium present in anterior and posterior angles; pronotal disc smooth, almost impunctate, or distinctly punctured, sides strongly punctured but without deep depressions; base of pronotum without narrow raised border; hypomeron without lateral groove; anterior of prosternum without median or lateral ridges, or with middle strongly elevated as a single thick ridge, either distinctly medially produced or not; prosternal process quadrate or elongate, without a pair of right-angled lobes at base, apex bilobed; procoxal cavity open, gap at least half width of coxa; elytra non-tuberculate, distinctly striate near suture and at sides, or with sparse large punctures (C. gibbosum), or discal punctures confused (C. prasinum); 5th stria deepened at base; elytra not extended at sides, epipleura entirely visible from sides; base of elytra not overlapping posterior angles of pronotum; epipleuron narrow, < 0.2 times elytral width, without short stiff setae; anterior face of mesoventrite process gently or abruptly elevated, convex, posterior margin strongly concave; metaventrite without femoral plates; metaventrite process not anteriorly raised; apices of mid and hind tibiae without row of teeth; tibiae with a single external keel or without sharp external keels; apex of third tarsal segment slightly concave; claws acutely toothed.
Abdomen: Pygidium without well-defined median groove; abdominal ventrites with or without distinct setiferous punctures; apex of last ventrite rounded or truncate in female, truncate, often toothed, or rarely trilobate (C. gibbosum) in male, often medially depressed.
Distribution and biology
The genus Callidemum Blanchard has been recently revised and now incorporates the former genera Augomela Baly, Stethomela Baly and Clidonotus Chapuis (Daccordi 1994; Reid 2004). Callidemum includes about 70 species in eastern Indonesia, New Guinea and throughout Australia. Species are found throughout New South Wales, but only one, C. hypochalcea (Germar), occurs west of the Dividing Range.
In Australia, Callidemum species feed on a wide range of hosts from the plant families Elaeocarpaceae, Mimosaceae, Sapindaceae and Surianaceae. Callidemum hypochalcea is the most widespread and commonly collected species on Dodonaea. Larvae are usually pale and strongly convex (Matthews and Reid 2002; Hawkeswood & Takizawa 2002).
References
Daccordi, M. (1994). Notes for phylogenetic study of Chrysomelinae, with descriptions of new taxa and a list of all the known genera (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae, Chrysomelinae), pp 60-84, in Furth, D. G. (ed.) Proceedings of the third international Symposium on the Chrysomelidae, Beijing, 1992. Backhuys, Leyden.
Hawkeswood, T. J. and Takizawa, H. (2002). Taxonomy, biology and host plant of the Australian leaf beetle Stethomela submetallica Baly (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) from the wet forests of north-eastern New South Wales, Australia, with descriptions of the egg, larva and adult. Mauritiana (Altenburg) 18(2): 245-249.
Matthews, E. G. and Reid, C. A. M. (2002). A guide to the genera of beetles of South Australia. Part 8 Polyphaga: Chrysomeloidea: Chrysomelidae. South Australian Museum, Adelaide. 64pp.
Reid, C. A. M. 2004. A taxonomic revision of the Australian Chrysomelinae, with a key to the genera (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Zootaxa
Copyright © Australian Museum 2016
Authors: Chris Reid and Kindi Smith