Metallic Jewel Beetle
Pronotum Shape
Metallic Jewel Beetle
Metallic Blue Body
| Metallic Jewel Beetle Pronotum Shape | | Metallic Jewel Beetle Metallic Blue Body | | ||
 | 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 Allen Sundholm OAM for helping with the identification of this species Thank you Stephan Gottwald for confirming the identification of this species 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" | |||||
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