
Helcogaster TFIC sp 03 (a species of soft-winged flower-beetle)
Basis for Tasmanian occurrence
Classification
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Polyphaga
Superfamily: Cleroidea
Family: Melyridae
Subfamily: Malachiinae
Morphology
Typical length (mm): 4
Flightedness: winged and assumed capable of flight
Ecology
Assumed larval feeding: predator
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 six years of felling (Grove et al., 2009).
Collection method(s) for TMAG material: — Emergence trapping from cut billets of Eucalyptus obliqua (Harrison, 2007) — Emergence trapping from log of Eucalyptus obliqua — Sticky trapping on Eucalyptus obliqua.
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.
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.

