Scaphidium alpicola Blackburn, 1891 (a species of rove-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 Scaphidium alpicolum)

TMAG collections

Typical length (mm): 5
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.

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 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) — Malaise trapping — Pitfall trapping.

Source ecological literature:
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.
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.