Paropsis augusta

A large alpine leaf beetle (22mm) in orange or yellow. This one is usually speckled.

comments (5)

Mark Ridgway

Lion

A mountainous paropsid ! Posted 9 years ago
1. Martin Lagerwey
  
  Lion
  
  From Lake Mountain to Sydney. It blends into a different species further north. Posted 9 years ago

Ferdy Christant

Lion

Before your contributions here, I had no idea of this category of wildlife being so extensive and diverse. Thank you for the education and marvelous collection! Posted 9 years ago
1. Martin Lagerwey
  
  Lion
  
  Ha! Paropsis (Latin = bowl) has 72 species, I've only given you 27(by geotag). Phytophagous beetles are very host specific and plant evolution drives speciation faster than average. Paropsisterna has 122 species, Peltoschema has 95 species. These groups are Australian endemics. I probably have images of half, many are localized and this means targeted travelling if I want to see the rest, many are undetermined because taxonomy is in a big mess for this group. It gets harder now. There is still a little more to come. Posted 9 years ago
2. 1. Ferdy Christant
    
    Lion
    
    Thanks for that information, it gives a great overview. Is it a life mission to find them all :) Posted 9 years ago