Temognatha sundholmi Lang sp. nov. (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), a New Species From the Great Victoria Desert and New Host Plants: An Investigation Using DNA Barcoding With Implications for Taxonomy of T

ABSTRACT

A new species of jewel beetle, Temognatha sundholmi Lang, sp. nov. , is described from the Great Victoria Desert in South Australia. A broader investigation, using mtDNA COI ‘barcode’ sequences from 178 specimens representing 54 buprestid species, places the new species with Temognatha flavocincta (Gory & Laporte, 1838) in the informal Temognatha grandis species‐group. The new species is morphologically distinct from T. flavocincta and has fixed diagnostic characters that are confined to a geographically and ecologically defined region but are not distinguishable based on DNA ‘barcodes’. The mtDNA analysis supports the T. grandis species‐group as monophyletic and affirms some species relationships within the group proposed on morphological grounds. The monophyly of the tribe Stigmoderini Lacordaire, 1857 and its genera Stigmodera Eschscholtz, 1829 and Castiarina Gory & Laporte, 1838 were also supported, but not Temognatha Solier, 1833 in respect to Calodema Gory & Laporte, 1838, Calotemognatha Peterson, 1991 and Metaxymorpha Parry, 1848. Within the tribe Melobasini Bílý, 2000, there is strong support for the reinstatement of two species from synonymy under Melobasis simplex (Germar, 1848): Melobasis sordida (made previously) and Melobasis semisuturalis reinst. stat. , reinstated here but reassigned to the Melobasis purpurascens species‐group. We also report on seven new larval host plant records by matching 13 larval specimens with known adults using DNA ‘barcodes’ and discuss their significance with an appraisal of relevant existing records. We show that mtDNA COI ‘barcode’ sequences can differentiate most buprestid species and are useful for larval identifications and investigating relationships within tribes. Further study with genomic DNA and greater taxon sampling is required to better define species‐groups and to validate genera within Buprestidae.