Leperina decorata (Erichson, 1842) (a species of bark-gnawing 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 Lepidopteryx decorata)

TMAG collections

Typical length (mm): 15
Flightedness: winged and assumed capable of flight

Source literature on morphology and taxonomy (*primary taxonomic source, where identified):
*Erichson, W.F. (1842). Beitrag zur Insecten-Fauna von Vandiemensland, mit besonderer Beruecksichtung der geographischen Verbreitung der Insecten. Nicolai’schen Buchhandlung 8(1): 379 pages.

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

Ecological attributes: — Breeds in dead or dying Acacia dealbata trees (Bashford, 1991) — Found in stems of Eucalyptus obliqua, where predatory on larvae of Epithora dorsalis (Bashford, 1994) — Has a one-year life-cycle (Bashford, 1994).

Collection method(s) for TFIC material: — Baited trapping (funnel trap) — Emergence trapping from cut billets of Eucalyptus obliqua (Harrison, 2007) — Malaise trapping — Pipe trapping — Sticky trapping on Acacia dealbata — Sticky trapping on Eucalyptus camaldulensis — Sticky trapping on Eucalyptus obliqua — Vane trapping.

Source ecological literature:
Bashford, R. (1990a). Tasmanian forest insects and their host plants: records from the Tasmanian Forestry Commission insect collection. Hobart: Tas. Forestry Commission, 32 pages.
Bashford, R. (1991). Wood-boring Coleoptera and associated insects reared from Acacia dealbata Link in Tasmania. Aust. Entom. Mag. 18 (3): 103-110.
Bashford, R. (1994). Life history and mortality of the longicorn Epithora dorsalis MacLeay (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) in Tasmania. Aust. Entom. 21 (4): 125-136.
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.