Synonyms
Bucolus convexus Blackburn, 1892: 72.
Diagnosis
The orange pronotum, dark head and unicoloured elytra with short vestiture forming distinct whorled pattern will distinguish this species from other Bucolus.
Description
Length 3.8 mm. Head black; elytra and most of the ventral side dark brown; pronotum, mouthparts, antennae, tarsi and abdomen orange or yellowish. Dorsum convex, covered with whitish pubescence forming distinct whorled pattern on elytra. Punctures on head as large as eye facets, separated by 1.0-2.0 diameters; intervals between punctures shiny without microsculpture. Anterior clypeal margin straight. Antenna short with strongly asymmetrical club. Apical maxillary palpomere, as long as wide and weakly expanded apically. Eyes at frons separated by about 2.2 times eye width. Pronotal base not margined; prosternum long in front of procoxae with large, forward oriented, setose projection that is about 0.5 as broad as prosternum. Prosternal process 0.4 times as wide as transverse coxal diameter. Hypomeron deeply concave but without distinct foveae. Scutellum pentagonal, setose. Elytral surface densely, irregularly punctate; all punctures of similar size, setigerous and 2-3 diameters apart; interspaces shiny and without noticeable microsculpture. Epipleuron narrow, about as broad as metepisternum, strongly narrowing posteriorly from the level of abdomen and completely absent apically; foveae well defined, mesofemoral fovea delimited both on metepisternum and epipleuron, metafemoral one deeply delimited on a very narrow epipleuron. Meso-metaventral junction about as wide as mesocoxa; mesoventrite straight and bordered anteriorly. Protibia short and broad almost straight along external margin of deep tarsal groove; mid and hind tibiae similar, narrower and sharply angulated externally; claws with weak basal tooth. Abdominal postcoxal line recurved and incomplete; ventrite V straight.
Male
Male genitalia not examined.
Female
Externally identical to male.
Variation
Not observed.
Distribution and Biology
Known only from a single type specimen that according to Blackburn was collected near Sydney.
Species References
Blackburn, T. 1892. Further notes on Australian Coleoptera, with descriptions of new genera and species. XI. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 15: 20-73.
Slipinski, A and Dolambi, F. 2007. Revision of the Australian Coccinellidae (Coleoptera). Part 7. Genus Bucolus Mulsant. Annales Zoologici (Warszawa), 57: 763-781.
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