Abstract
The genus Allothnonius Britton, 1978 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae: Melolonthini) is revised based on material of the two previously described Queensland species, A. barretti Britton, 1978 and A. brooksi Britton, 1978; and A. mouldsi Allsopp & Smith, new species, from the northwest of the Northern Territory. The diagnostic characters of the genus are revised, distinguishing it from other Australian Melolonthini. The female of A. brooksi is described for the first time. An identification key, distribution map and notes on the natural history of the three species are included.
References
Allsopp, P.G. (1990) Sexual dimorphism in the adult antennae of Antitrogus parvulus Britton and Lepidiota negatoria Blackburn (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae). Journal of the Australian Entomological Society, 29, 261–266. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-6055.1990.tb00360.x
Allsopp, P.G. (1993) Evidence for sex attraction in three species of Australian canegrub beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae). Coleopterists Bulletin, 47, 51–52.
Allsopp, P.G. (1995) Biogeography of the Australian Dynastinae, Rutelinae, Scarabaeinae, Melolonthini, Scitalini and Geotrupidae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea). Journal of Biogeography, 22, 31–48. https://doi.org/10.2307/2846071
Allsopp, P.G. (2018) Alepida, a new genus for seven Australian species attributed to Lepidiota Kirby, 1828 and one new species (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae: Melolonthini). Australian Entomologist, 45, 441–464.
Allsopp, P.G. (2020a) Australian Melolonthini (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae): a second species of Hypolepida Britton, 1978. Zootaxa, 4742 (3), 595–600. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4742.3.13
Allsopp, P.G. (2020b) Clarification of the status of the types of Australian Melolonthini (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae) described before 1950. Zootaxa, 4885 (4), 451–486. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4885.4.1
Beck, H.E., Zimmermann, N.E., McVicar, T.R., Vergopolan, N., Berg, A. & Wood, E.F. (2018) Present and future Köppen-Geiger climate classification maps at 1-km resolution. Scientific Data, 5, 180214. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2018.214
Britton, E.B. (1957) A revision of the Australian chafers (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae). Vol. 1. British Museum (Natural History), London, viii + 185 pp.
Britton, E.B. (1978) A revision of the Australian chafers (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae) Vol. 2. Tribe Melolonthini. Australian Journal of Zoology, Supplementary Series, 60, 1–150. https://doi.org/10.1071/AJZS060
Bryant, L.M. & Krosch, M.N. (2016) Lines in the land: a review of evidence for eastern Australia’s major biogeographical barriers to closed forest taxa. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 119, 238–264. https://doi.org/10.1111/bij.12821
Houston, W.W.K. & Weir, T.A. (1992) Melolonthinae. In: Houston, W.W.K. (Ed.), Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Vol. 9. Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, pp. 174–358.
Hutchinson, P.M. & Allsopp, P.G. (2021) Australian Melolonthini (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae): a sixth species of Pseudholophylla Blackburn, 1911, and notes on the other known species. Zootaxa, 5082 (1), 30–40. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5082.1.3
Lacroix, M. (2021) Combien de Melolonthinae. Available from: http://hannetons.free.fr/ page20.html (accessed 29 October 2021)
Maddison, D.R. & Maddison, W.P. (2017) Cartographer, a Mesquite package for plotting geographic data. Version 1.5. Available from: http://mesquiteproject.org/packages/cartographer (accessed 20 August 2019)
Weir, T.A., Lawrence, J.F., Lemann, C. & Gunter, N.L. (2019) Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae Leach, 1819. In: Ślipiński, A. & Lawrence, J.F. (Eds.), Australian Beetles. Vol. 2. Archostemata, Myxophaga, Adephaga, Polyphaga (part). CSIRO Publishing, Clayton South, pp. 467–507.
Wheeler, Q.D. & Platnick, N.I. (2000) The phylogenetic species concept (sensu Wheeler & Platnick). In: Wheeler, Q.D. & Meier, R. (Eds.), Species Concepts and Phylogenetic Theory: a Debate. Columbia University Press, New York, New York, pp. 55–69.