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Agalba rufipennis (Lea, 1919) (a species of false click-beetle)

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. (as Agalba rufipennis)

TMAG collections

Classification

Order: Coleoptera

Suborder: Polyphaga

Superfamily: Elateroidea

Family: Melasinae

Subfamily: Xylobiini

Morphology

Typical length (mm): 5
Flightedness: winged and assumed capable of flight

Ecology

Larval feeding: predator
Association with old trees or dead wood: obligately saproxylic

Ecological attributes: — 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: — Baited trapping (funnel trap) — Emergence trapping from log of Eucalyptus obliqua — Log-mounted flight intercept trapping — Pipe trapping.

Source ecological literature:
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.
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.

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