Orchesia eucalypti Champion, 1895 (a species of false darkling-beetle)

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 Orchesia eucalypti).

TMAG collections

Typical length (mm): 3.2
Flightedness: winged and assumed capable of flight

Source literature on morphology and taxonomy (*primary taxonomic source, where identified):
*Lea, A.M. (1920a). Descriptions of new species of Australian Coleoptera. Part XVI. Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 45: 375-403.

Assumed larval feeding: fungus-feeder
Association with dead wood or old trees: obligately saproxylic

Ecological attributes: — May occupy logs or trunks of Eucalyptus obliqua, at least temporarily, since found having emerged within a year of felling (Grove & Bashford, 2003) — 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 — Flight intercept trapping (trough below Malaise trap) — Knockdown fogging of canopy of Nothofagus cunninghamii — Knockdown fogging of canopy of Nothofagus gunnii — Log-mounted flight intercept trapping — Malaise trapping — Pitfall trapping — Sticky trapping on Eucalyptus obliqua — Trapping using a range of devices placed in crown of Eucalyptus obliqua (Bar-Ness, 2005) — Trunk window trapping (Harrison, 2007) — Vane trapping.

Source ecological literature:
Grove, S.J. & Bashford, R. (2003). Beetle assemblages from the Warra log decay project: insights from the first year of sampling. Tasforests 14: 117-129.
Grove, S.J. (2009b). Beetles and fuelwood harvesting: a retrospective study from Tasmania’s southern forests. Tasforests 18: 77-99.
Bar-Ness, Y. (2005). Crown structure and the canopy arthropod biodiversity of 100 year old and old-growth Tasmanian Eucalyptus obliqua. Msc thesis, Univ. of Tasmania, Hobart.