Metallic Jewel Beetle: Pronotum Punctuations

Class:

Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta)

Order:

Beetles (Coleoptera)

Family:

Jewel Beetle (Buprestidae)

Species:

Metallic Jewel Beetle (Melobasis sp)

This Photo:

Pronotum Punctuations

Thank you Stephan Gottwald for confirming the id and Allen Sundholm OAM for helping with the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere
They quickly dropped off the bush onto the ground when felt threatened.
Seems to have a metalic blue body.
We Found 4 in two Senna bushes during the day in Sept. The 2 we caught varied a size a bit, between ~12-14mm.
We thought this was Melobasis propinqua but Allen indicated that there are several similar species requiring microscopic examination to separate to species. He also said "Melobasis propinqua does not have the distinct costae on the elytra, is more rounded generally, and is much more hirsute ventrally".
Stephan said "I think nervosa species-group"

This species is

Australian Native Species, not listed in the SA Murray Mallee Survey of 2010.

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