Exithius cariosus (Erichson, 1842) (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 Exithius cariosis)

TMAG collections

Typical length (mm): 4.5
Flightedness: winged and assumed capable of flight

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

Ecological attributes: — Affiliated with mature (unlogged) forest (Yee, 2005) — Affiliated with older trees (Harrison, 2007) — Affliliated with mature (unlogged) forest (Baker et al., 2009c) — 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 cut billets of Eucalyptus obliqua (Harrison, 2007) — Emergence trapping from log of Eucalyptus obliqua — Extraction by Berlese funnel from crown-litter of Dicksonia antarctica (Jones, 2007) — Flight intercept trapping (trough below Malaise trap) — Hand collection (substrate not specified) — Hand collection from Acacia dealbata — Hand collection from under bark (tree species not specified) — Knockdown fogging of canopy of Nothofagus cunninghamii — Knockdown spraying of bark of Eucalyptus obliqua — Malaise trapping — Pitfall trapping — 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.
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. (2000). Forest litter beetles and their habitat: a comparison of forest regenerated by wildfire and logging practices. Hons. thesis, Univ. of Tasmania, Hobart.
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.
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.
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.