Melobasis obscurella
3 Obscurella jewel beetle at Yarralumla, ACT
Identify this sighting
| Melobasis obscurella | Harrisi | 25 Feb 2021 | |
| Melobasis obscurella | KimPullen | 25 Feb 2021 | |
| Melobasis obscurella | Harrisi | 3 Jan 2021 | |
| Melobasis sp. (genus) | CathB | 26 Dec 2020 | |
| Melobasis thoracica | CathB | 4 Sep 2020 |
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Significant sighting
User's notes
Yesterday's wind made photographing difficult, but 2 very active beetles seen.
3 comments
5 Sep 2020
well done Cath! a day earlier than last year. Definitely a Melobasis but I'm not sure it is a M. thoracica, Seems a lighter green than ones i have seen (which isn't that many) and the lateral articulation between pronotum and elytra looks straighter than M. thoracica. One for the experts!
28 Sep 2020
Well ! Have now consulted a few experts with these images and those I took two days hence (probably same plant and beetles?). Further examination of pics reveals a reddish margin to the rear half of the elytra, laterally. Consensus now is that these beetles are Melobasis obscurella, an acacia specialist. Well done Cath, if confirmed, a new jewel beetle species for CNM ! :)
28 Sep 2020
...further to the above, Peter Lang's excellent new 'Buprestidae of South Australia' (google it), records that M. obscurella emerges very early in that state, from the second half of August so being our first Buprestid record for this season (3SEP20) is not surprising or out of the ordinary.
Location information
- Coordinates 149.087848-35.276993
- Altitude 580.2m
- Maps Black Mountain
- Places Yarralumla, ACT
Sighting information
- 2 Abundance
- 3 Sep 2020 03:06 PM Recorded on
- CathB Recorded by
- 5mm to 12mm Animal size
Collections
- Significant CathB Canberra & Southern Tablelands NatureMapr Melobasis obscurella Jewel beetles (Buprestidae) Beetles (Coleoptera) Insects
Species information
- Melobasis obscurella Scientific name
- Obscurella jewel beetle Common name
- Not Sensitive
- Local native
- Non-invasive or negligible
- Up to 2232.3m Recorded at altitude
- External link More information
Record quality
Quality score
7 / 7
- Images or audio
- More than one media file
- Verified by an expert moderator
- Nearby sighting(s) of same species
- GPS evidence of location
- Description
- Additional attributes