![]() | 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 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" | |||||
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