Australian Journal of Entomology (1998) 37, 149-154

A.R. Clarke, D. Shohet, V.S. Patel and J.L. Madden (1998)
Overwintering sites of Chrysophtharta bimaculata (Olivier) (Coleoptera : Chrysomelidae) in commercially managed Eucalyptus obliqua forests
Australian Journal of Entomology 37 (2), 149-154
Abstract: Chrysophtharta bimaculata is a serious pest of eucalypt forests in Tasmania. The beetle overwinters as a diapausing adult, but it is poorly documented whether it forms overwintering aggregations or where it shelters. During winter 1992, we searched 386 possible overwintering sites for C. bimaculata in Eucalyptus obliqua forests. Fourteen types of habitat were identified, of which clumps of Gahnia grandis sheltered the greatest mean number of insects (3.31 ± 0.72 insects/plant, n = 65 plants), while. bracken fern litter sheltered the least (0.14 ± 0.14 insects/sample, n = 7, 1 m² quadrat samples). Of the 14 habitat types, all except two (under the bark of eucalypt stags and in G. grandis clumps) were more often unoccupied. Beetles were more commonly found on mature forest edges or in logged and regenerating forests; few were found within mature forests. Our results show that C. bimaculata rarely forms overwintering aggregations of greater than 20 individuals per site, nor does it appear to have a significant pre-diapause dispersal.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Paropsisterna bimaculata	Eucalypt (Eucalyptus)	Australia (South+SE)