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Striped Acacia Leaf Beetle
Peltoschema orphana
-37.5623, 143.861
Field Notes
Description:
Belongs to the worl-wide represented group of Coleoptrans, Chrysomelidae: Chrysomelinae. No common name so we will go with Striped Acacia Leaf Beetle. Females measure 8mm and males 6mm and are predominately green with longitudinal stripes of browns and whites. Three broad brown on each side of the elytra, one in the middle and a narrow on each side of the centre. The male patterning seems to be, perhaps, a little darker/denser.
Habitat:
Exclusively(?) on Acacia dealbata Silver Wattle. The copse of A. dealbata where I observe the species also has A. mearnsii and Eucalyptus leucoxylon present. They are planted specimens, not natural, and they do not inhabit all specimens of A. dealbata.
Notes:
These last records to date are on 31 May 2013 and surprises me that they are still there, considering the cold days we have had. They were also observed mating on this day.
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