Paropsisterna morio (Paropsisterna morio)

Paropsisterna morio - male This beetle is about 10mm. It is entirely shiny but is seen under magnification to have moderate sized puncturations along ten series on each elytron. The interstitial spaces also have puncturation almost as large. They hide under bark in the daytime. Common in the southern half of Australia but there are several other species that look almost identical in Queensland. Australia,Geotagged,Paropsisterna morio,Winter,paropsisterna

Appearance

This beetle is shiny black with fine puncturations almost invisible to the eye. It is hemispherical and oval with the lateral edge of the elytra expanded to reach the ground.

Parpsisterna morio - female The interstitial regions of the elytra are sometimes brown or red resulting in stripes that appear only under strong light such as a flash. Females are larger with convex interstices. Australia,Geotagged,Paropsisterna morio,Spring

Naming

Paropsisterna morio is named by (Fabricius, 1787). The type location was Endeavour Bay, Bruny Island, Tasmania.
Latin; morio = clown, jester, fool.

Shiny brown eucalyptus leaf beetle (Paropsisterna sp.) Another new Paropsisterna.
Very dark brown coloured with paler lines through the elytra (which only showed up via camera flash).
Approximately 14mm long.
Very placid - I was able to touch it with not much response other than to adjust it's position slightly.
Hiding under a eucalyptus leaf in a local nature reserve.
The lack of movement matches well with Peter Chew's description.
http://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane_leafbeetles/ShinyDarkBrown.htm
Hoping for species soon. Australia,Chrysomelidae,Geotagged,Leaf beetle,Paropsisterna,Paropsisterna morio,Spring,Wicks Reserve

Distribution

It is recorded across Australia, more common in the southeast. The records from Queensland are certainly mistaken fr several other species that look extremely similar. The Western species have not been checked.

Status

Common.

Behavior

Nocturnal. Hiding diurnally under bark.

Habitat

Associated with many species of loose barked Eucalyptus, including red gum and manna gum. They feed on leaves and hide under bark of the trunk diurnally. Larvae are similar.

Reproduction

Probably bivoltine.

Food

Feeding on the edge of Eucalyptus leaves and cutting a characteristic semicircle out of the leaf by successive slices.

Predators

Ants. Wasps, Tachinid flies, Foxes and possums.

Defense

Nocturnal habit. Hard elytra.

References:

Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.

http://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:biodiversity.org.au:afd.taxon:c5a55c8c-8ba7-4a1b-9104-6121d1af95b1#gallery

Taxonomy
Kingdom	Animalia
Division	Arthropoda
Class	Insecta
Order	Coleoptera
Family	Chrysomelidae
Genus	Paropsisterna
Species	Paropsisterna morio

Photographed in
Australia