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Bark gnawing beetle

Leperina decorata

Photo by Mark Ridgway
Published on Project Noah
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Field Notes

Description:

About 9mm long. Flat. Patterns of light and dark brown with longitudinal striations on the abdomen. A white flash on each outer margin of the thorax.Three (assymetric?) clubbed segments on antennae?

Habitat:

Exploring a large, weathered (barkless) log in a local nature reserve.

Notes:

Thanks Michael Geiser for direction. <br>
poss. Lepidopteryx (Leperina) sp.
Comments re genus names http://species-id.net/wiki/Leperina <br>
http://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:biodiversity.org.au:afd.taxon:61… <br>
CSIRO "Species of Lepidopteryx, our most common genus, are clothed with scales or bristles forming a pattern." - http://anic.ento.csiro.au/insectfamilies/biota_details.aspx?OrderID=254… <br>
http://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:biodiversity.org.au:afd.name:275… <br>
Leperina may be synonymous with Lepidopteryx - Stephen Thorpe has Leperina... read here http://www.plazi.org:8080/GgSRS/html/75EF643A03D88EB7D33A6528B2798515

Reference Links:

Coleoptera | What Bug Is That?

Species ID Suggestions

bark-gnawing beetle

Leperina cf. decorata

Reference Link
MichaelGeiser
2

Comments (10)
MartinL
That's it Mark and Leuba. Wait till I get a proper photo of his big cousin that we found today...
LaurenZarate
It is a wonderful beetle! Yes, I can see the scales, very neat. So few beetles outside of Weevils have scales! I can see how you might think it was a Ladybug larva without looking closely :)
Mark Ridgway
Thanks Gilma. I love how the simple little creatures sometimes turn out the most interesting.
Mark Ridgway
Thanks so much MichaelGeiser. Very interesting reading about it. What a strange beetle. Thanks also Lauren and Martin... Martin I couldn't load your video.. must be very popular. Lauren it seems the 'pretty' ones here belong to a certain genus and the patterns are formed by scales or bristles.
LaurenZarate
This is such a neat find! I have never seen one of these before. Family Trogossitidae - here is a Russian species http://www.zin.ru/animalia/coleoptera/eng/leperina.htm. Yours is really beautiful.
MartinL
If you look through a camera lens, you might be amazed at what you can see; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfgsQX78hg8
Mark Ridgway
I really must wear specs Martin - I thought it was a ladybird larva before photo review. What have I been missing !! :( I'll dig in for ID later.
MartinL
That's a neat looking beetle. I don't know this one.
Photographed
PublishedFebruary 24, 2014

Spotted for Missions

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