Although this insect season had
a late start, I’ve been able to find quite a few leaf beetles on my walks
around local parks. Some of these are brightly coloured to warn predators that
they are inedible, but others with dull colours rely on not being noticed.
The common
name of the Lamprolina genus is
“Pittosporum beetles”, most feeding on plants belonging to the Pittosporaceae
family including Pittosporum and Bursaria. At first glance many beetles
in the Lamprolina genus look the
same, but they can be differentiated by the black patterns on the pronotum and
head. As I have only been able to identify L.
impressicollis, I can’t say for certain that the spot and patch patterns
are identifiers for separate species or if there are just local variations on one
or more species. The fact that they are found on different food plants may
indicate that those in the images below belong to at least several species.
Experts on iNaturalist website including Martin Lagerwey, an acknowledged Leaf
Beetle expert, are unable to help.
Members of
the Lamprolina genus are said to be
found in the East and North of Australia. As in many insect families, the
taxonomy is in need of revision.
The colour of
the elytra (wing covers) varies between dark blue, dark purple and very dark
green, and head/ pronotum are shades of crimson to orange and yellow. The
pronotum was differently shaped in some, and the beetles also varied in size.
Here is a list of those I have found in South East
Queensland:
·
Lamprolina
impressicollis, with no spot or patch markings,
was seen at Bellthorpe and at Stanthorpe.
·
Species A – black patches
on front of pronotum and back of head - Hartmann Reserve, Rogers Reserve and Withcott.
·
Species B – two black
spots on pronotum and large patch on head - Federation Park.
·
Species C – large black
patch on noticeably bright crimson pronotum, and none on head - Peacehaven.
·
Species D – black patch
at rear of head - Crows Nest National Park.
·
Species E – blue elytra
and yellow pronotum with grey marks - Lake Broadwater.
·
The larva of an unknown
Lamprolina species- Rogers Reserve.
Chris
Reid in his paper A taxonomic revision of the Australian Chrysomelinae, with
a key to the genera (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), published in 2006, says that there are 14
described species in the Lamprolina
genus. (This number may have changed since 2006, and there may be
undescribed species as well.)
Article and photos by Glenda Walter, April 2020
Lamprolina species A Hartmann Reserve |
Lamprolina species B Federation Park |
Lamprolina species C Peacehaven |
Lamprolina species D
Crows Nest |
Lamprolina species E
Lake Broadwater |
Lamprolina
impressicollis
on Bursaria, Stanthorpe |
Lamprolina species larva Rogers Reserve |
Lamprolina impressicollis Bellthorpe |
No comments:
Post a Comment