Merimnetes oblongus (Blanchard, 1853) (radiata pine-shoot 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.

TMAG collections

Typical length (mm): 3.5
Flightedness: winged and assumed capable of flight

Source literature on morphology and taxonomy (*primary taxonomic source, where identified):
Yaxley, B. (2000). An overview of weevils of the genus Merimnetes associated with native conifers in Tasmania. Hons. thesis, School of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Tasmania.

Assumed larval feeding: leaf-feeder
Association with dead wood or old trees: not 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: — At light (with use of light-trap) — Emergence trapping from log of Eucalyptus obliqua — Hand collection (substrate not specified) — Hand collection from Eucalyptus amygdalina — Hand collection from Eucalyptus sieberi — Hand collection from Eucalyptus viminalis — Hand collection from Exocarpos sp. — Hand collection from Leptospermum sp. — Hand collection from Persoonia gunnii — Hand collection from under bark (tree species not specified) — Knockdown spraying of bark of Eucalyptus sp. — Pipe trapping — Pitfall trapping — Sticky trapping (substrate not specified).

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.
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.
Yaxley, B. (2000b). An overview of weevils of the genus Merimnetes associated with native conifers in Tasmania. Hons. thesis, School of Geography and Environmental Studies, Univ. of Tasmania.