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Binburrum ruficollis (Champion, 1895) (a species of fire-coloured 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 Techmessa ruficollis)

TMAG collections

Classification

Order: Coleoptera

Suborder: Polyphaga

Superfamily: Tenebrionoidea

Family: Pyrochroidae

Subfamily: Pilipalpinae

Morphology

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

Ecology

Assumed larval feeding: wood-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 TFIC material: — Emergence trapping from log of Eucalyptus obliqua — Hand collection from flowers of Eucryphia lucida (Ettershanks & Ettershanks, 1993) — Malaise trapping — Sticky trapping on Eucalyptus obliqua.

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.
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.
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.

Binburrum ruficollis
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Binburrum ruficollis