Prostomus murinus (Lea, 1911) (a species of weevil)

Semmens, T.D., McQuillan, P.B. & Hayhurst, G. (1992). Catalogue of the Insects of Tasmania. Government of Tasmania: Department of Primary Industry, 104 pp. (as Prypnus scutellaris murinus)

TMAG collections

Typical length (mm): 20
Flightedness: (not yet documented)

Assumed larval feeding: (not yet documented)
Association with dead wood or old trees: at least facultatively saproxylic

Ecological attributes: — Affiliated with older trees (Harrison, 2007) — May occupy logs or trunks of Eucalyptus obliqua, at least temporarily, since found having emerged within six years of felling (Grove et al., 2009).

Collection method(s) for TMAG material: — Emergence trapping from cut billets of Eucalyptus obliqua (Harrison, 2007) — Emergence trapping from log of Eucalyptus obliqua — Extraction by Berlese funnel from leaf litter — Flight intercept trapping (trough below Malaise trap) — Hand collection (substrate not specified) — Hand collection from Acacia melanoxylon — Hand collection from Eucalyptus delegatensis — Hand collection from Eucalyptus nitens — Hand collection from Eucalyptus obliqua — Hand collection from Eucalyptus regnans — Hand collection from Leucopogon sp. — Hand collection from under bark (tree species not specified) — Not specified — Pitfall trapping.

Source ecological literature:
Grove, S.J. (2009b). Beetles and fuelwood harvesting: a retrospective study from Tasmania’s southern forests. Tasforests 18: 77-99.
Hopkins, A.J.M. et al. (2005). Wood decay fungi and beetle assemblages associated with living Eucalyptus obliqua trees: early results from studies at the Warra LTER Site, Ta
Baker, S.C. (2006b). Ecology and conservation of ground-dwelling beetles in managed wet eucalypt forest: edge and riparian effects. PhD thesis, Univ. of Tasmania, Hobart.
Grove, S. et al. (2009). A long-term experimental study of saproxylic beetle … succession in Tasmanian Eucalyptus … logs… In: Fattorini, S. (Ed.), Insect Ecology and Conservation. Research Signpost, pp. 71-114.
Grove, S.J. & Yaxley, B. (2005). Wildlife habitat strips and native forest ground-active beetle assemblages in plantation nodes in northeast Tasmania. Aust. J. Entom. 44 (4): 331-343.
Harrison, K.S. (2007). Saproxylic beetles associated with habitat features in Eucalyptus obliqua trees in the southern forests of Tasmania. PhD thesis, Dept. of Zoology, Univ. of Tasmania, Hobart.
Yee, M. (2005). The ecology and habitat requirements of saproxylic beetles native to Tasmanian wet eucalypt forests: potential impacts of commercial forestry practices. PhD thesis, Univ. of Tasmania, Hobart.