Melanterius costipennis (a species of weevil)
Basis for Tasmanian occurrence
Semmens, T.D., McQuillan, P.B. & Hayhurst, G. (1992). Catalogue of the Insects of Tasmania. Government of Tasmania: Department of Primary Industry, 104 pp.
TMAG collections
Classification
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Polyphaga
Superfamily: Curculionoidea
Family: Curculionidae
Subfamily: Molytinae
Tribe: Cleogonini
Morphology
Typical length (mm): 4.5
Flightedness: winged and assumed capable of flight
Ecology
Assumed larval feeding: seed-feeder
Association with dead wood or old trees: not saproxylic
Ecological attributes: — Found in galls of Uromycladium on Acacia dealbata (Bashford, 2002).
Collection method(s) for TMAG material: — At light (with use of light-trap) — Hand collection (substrate not specified) — Hand collection from Acacia dealbata — Rearing in insectary (host not documented) — Sticky trapping (substrate not specified) — Vane trapping.
Source ecological literature:
Bashford, R. (2002a). The insect fauna inhabiting Uromycladium (Uredinales) rust galls on silver wattle (Acacia dealbata) in Tasmania. Aust. Entom. 29 (3): 81-95.
