Litochrus alternans Blackburn, 1891 (a species of shining flower-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 Litochrus alternans)

TMAG collections

Typical length (mm): 3
Flightedness: winged and assumed capable of flight

Source literature on morphology and taxonomy (*primary taxonomic source, where identified):
*Blackburn, T. (1891a). Further notes on Australian Coleoptera, with descriptions of new genera and species: IX. Trans. Roy. Soc. S. Aust. 14: 65-193.
Lea, A.M. (1932). The Phalacridae (Coleoptera) of Australia and New Guinea. Rec. S. Aust. Mus. 4: 433-481.

Assumed larval feeding: fungus-feeder
Association with dead wood or old trees: at least facultatively 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 spraying of bark of Eucalyptus obliqua — Knockdown spraying of bark of Eucalyptus sp. — Malaise trapping — Pitfall trapping — Sticky trapping on Eucalyptus obliqua — 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.
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.
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.