''Paropsisterna beata'', commonly known as the blessed leaf beetle, is a species of

leaf beetle The insects of the beetle family Chrysomelidae are commonly known as leaf beetles, and include over 37,000 (and probably at least 50,000) species in more than 2,500 genera, making up one of the largest and most commonly encountered of all beetle ...

. It occurs in all states of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

except

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

Description

''Paropsisterna beata'' is a mostly black beetle except for an orange head, orange margins on the

pronotum The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the pronotum (dorsal), the prosternum (ventral), and the propleuron (lateral) on ea ...

, a narrow orange "skirt" around the

elytra An elytron (; ; , ) is a modified, hardened forewing of beetles (Coleoptera), though a few of the true bugs (Hemiptera) such as the family Schizopteridae are extremely similar; in true bugs, the forewings are called hemelytra (sometimes alterna ...

, and each elytron having three orange blotches. Sometimes, two of the blotches on each elytron are joined, especially in the north of the species' range. There are extremely fine puncturations and striae. There is a subspecies, ''P. beata rubrosignata,'' in which the elytral blotches are more yellowish and the marginal colouring is thicker and more reddish. Some other species in the genus resemble ''P. beata'' but can be distinguished by certain features: '' P. sexpustulata'' lacks the colored lateral skirt and '' P. octosignata'' has an entirely black pronotum.

Life cycle and diet

As a beetle, ''P. beata'' undergoes

complete metamorphosis Holometabolism, also called complete metamorphosis, is a form of insect development which includes four life stages: egg, larva, pupa, and imago (or adult). Holometabolism is a synapomorphic trait of all insects in the superorder Endopterygota. ...

with the four life stages of egg,

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

pupa A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their ...

and adult. Like others of its genus, larvae and adults of ''P. beata'' feed on foliage of ''

Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as euca ...

''. Host plants mentioned in the literature are ''

Eucalyptus grandis ''Eucalyptus grandis'', commonly known as the flooded gum or rose gum, is a tall tree with smooth bark, rough at the base fibrous or flaky, grey to grey-brown. At maturity, it reaches tall, though the largest specimens can exceed tall. It is f ...

'' and ''E. nitens''''''. Pupation takes place in leaf litter or within the soil. During winter, adults go into

diapause In animal dormancy, diapause is the delay in development in response to regular and recurring periods of adverse environmental conditions.Tauber, M.J., Tauber, C.A., Masaki, S. (1986) ''Seasonal Adaptations of Insects''. Oxford University Press It ...

under the loose bark of trees, in crevices in wood or in leaf litter underneath trees.

Introduction to New Zealand

A large population of ''P. beata'' was detected on ''

Eucalyptus nitens ''Eucalyptus nitens'', commonly known as shining gum or silvertop, is a species of tall tree native to Victoria and eastern New South Wales. It has smooth greyish bark, sometimes with thin, rough bark near the base, lance-shaped adult leaves, flo ...

'' at

Whitemans Valley Whitemans Valley is a rural suburb of Upper Hutt located in the lower North Island of New Zealand. Situated roughly 4 kilometers south of the Upper Hutt Upper Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Uta) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealan ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in 2012. In response, insecticides were applied both aerially and on the ground, and overwintering habitat was removed by stripping loose bark from host trees. The beetle has not been detected again, suggesting it has been successfully eradicated.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q21359957 Beetles of Australia Chrysomelinae Beetles described in 1842