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Case bearing leaf beetle

Cadmus aurantiacus

Photo by Mark Ridgway
Published on Project Noah
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Field Notes

Description:

At first I thought this might be another type of eucalyptus leaf beetle as it was fairly small (body length 12mm?) Later I noticed the extra long antennae, eye arrangement and different shape.

Habitat:

Wandering around on newer stems of a eucalyptus sapling. Within a nature reserve incorporating stringybark, acacias, pomaderris, pittosporum, assorted woody shrubs and grasses.

Notes:

Cryptocephalinae -> Cadmus aurantiacus - thanks bayucca and stho002..
http://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn%3Alsid%3Abiodiversity.org.au%3Aafd.ta…
C crucicollis and aurantiacus both candidates.
http://lifeunseen.com/index2_item_4637.php

http://www.flickr.com/photos/32977858@N02/6468695331/

Species ID Suggestions

Case-bearing leaf beetle

Subfamily Cryptocephalinae
stho002
1

Case-bearing Leaf Beetle

Cadmus aurantiacus

Reference Link
bayucca
1

Comments (14)
bayucca
YES!! Thanks Martin! Here is my white patch... :-))!
MartinL
I think we have a confirmation, of sorts. Check this link from Western Australia showing a beetle with white scutellum called C. aurantiacus and marked as "species complex" http://plantationhealth.com.au/pdf/pestnotes/cadmus.pdf aureus (latin) = golden.
bayucca
Thanks, Martin. Besides the whitish spot I am quite confident with Aurantiacus. The other Cadmus has more markings on the body, Aurantiacus and Mark's actually no additional markings besides the stripes.
MartinL
That's a great shot Mark. I'm with bayucca and I share his caution.
Mark Ridgway
'servitude' on flickr -> " Cadmus crucicollis is a highly variable species in terms of both markings and depth of elytral sculpturing. The species name probably refers to the usual dark cross shape found on the pronotum however the mark can be expanded greatly to cover most of the disc. Both sets of elytral marks can also be fully expanded outwards leaving only a pale area between them - in extreme cases this area can be bright yellow. There occurs also almost entirely black versions of this species collected from Mt Kosciusco and Tasmania. (Blackburn 1890; Lea 1904)" so it seems colours might vary a lot.
Mark Ridgway
Sure looks good bayucca.. scutellum and legs wrong colours? ..
bayucca
Beetles are fun, Diptera sometimes as well ;-)...
Mark Ridgway
Thanks guys. I think I'm trying to cover too much ground Stephen :-) but it sure is fun - and with Spring in full swing it's only going to get worse.... how about I promise not to make this mistake again... no, that would be really foolish.
bayucca
Cadmus aurantiacus?? Please, verify! I am not 100% sure! There is a little white patch behind the pronotum which is confusing. What do you think, Stephen??
stho002
You just can't seem to get your head around these cryptocephalines, can you Mark?

Spotted for Missions

Mission
Beetles of Southeastern Australia
Mission
Dandenong Ranges - fauna & flora
Mission
Beetles!

Tags

Photographed
PublishedOctober 12, 2013

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