''Paropsisterna selmani'', the Tasmanian Eucalyptus Beetle, is a species of leaf beetle native to Tasmania which has been inadvertently introduced to the Republic of Ireland and United Kingdom. It is the first eucalyptus-feeding chrysomelid known to have become established in Europe.

Description

''Paropsisterna selmani'' first came to scientific attention in 2007 when beetle were found attacking cultivated ''Eucalyptus'' species in

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

, Ireland, and in 2012 a single adult was photographed in a garden in London. It was realised that these were identical to a pest species 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 ...

'' plantations in Tasmania, which had been tentatively identified as ''Paropsisterna gloriosa'' by entomologist Brian Selman of

University of Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick univer ...

. Further studies showed it was in fact a new species, which was named in honour of Selman (who died in 2009). ''Paropsisterna'' is a large genus of over 120 species which are distinguished by colour patterns, which are normally lost in preserved specimens. When first scientifically described, ''Paropsisterna selmani'' was already a pest in both Tasmania and Ireland, causing significant defoliation, and so also in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

in 2015. Eucalyptus species are economically important worldwide as a fast-growing source of timber,

pulpwood Pulpwood is timber with the principal use of making wood pulp for paper production. Applications * Trees raised specifically for pulp production account for 15% of world pulp production, old growth forests 9% and second- and third- and more gener ...

and other products. ''Paropsisterna selmani'' is an elliptical beetle up to 9mm long, orange to brown, generally with a yellowish ring of marks towards the tipe of the elytra. Larvae are typical chrysomelid grubs, generally orange-brown. It feeds exclusively on ''Eucalyptus'' species, preferentially on

glaucous ''Glaucous'' (, ) is used to describe the pale grey or bluish-green appearance of the surfaces of some plants, as well as in the names of birds, such as the glaucous gull (''Larus hyperboreus''), glaucous-winged gull (''Larus glaucescens''), g ...

foliaged eucalypt species of the subgenus ''Symphyomyrtus'', and particularly the plantation tree ''E. nitens''.

References

Chrysomelinae Beetles of Australia Beetles described in 2013 Agricultural pest insects {{Chrysomelinae-stub