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A Study of Genus Paropsis Leaf Beetles.
With advances in digital photography and macro capabilities, citizen naturalists can easily bring these tiny beetles into larger-than-life magnificence where they belong. Considering they are the largest group among all insect orders, beetles are an underrepresented group among scientists and citizens alike. This work is intended to provide some hope for simple visual identification for the casual observer as well as useful information and field data for the more serious students.
Leaf beetles are strongly convex and appear similar to ladybird beetles with which they are sometimes confused. This resemblance is not accidental. Ants regularly patrol plants while they farm aphids and leaf-hoppers. They will attack predatory ladybird beetles as well as the entirely innocent and incidental leaf-eating beetles. The rotund profile has a great advantage for the comfort of both orders of beetles as they can retreat entirely into their shell, withdrawing antennae, eyes and feet, much as a tortoise does. This behavior has earned the nickname for leaf beetles - 'tortoise beetles".
This is an attempt to display images for all approximately 70 species of the genus Paropsis of the order Chrysomelidae (leaf beetles) in Australia. Currently the gallery has live photos of 40 species, mostly from Victoria, and about ten species linked to other sites or using museum specimens.
Leaf beetles eat leaves. Their larvae are small grubs and they also eat leaves. Paropsis usually eat eucalyptus but some eat tea tree. P. pictipennis is one such example and is illustrated on the right..
Paropsis geographica
My thanks first to my walking buddy, Geoff Walker with whom I have discovered most of these beetles. His bush sense from years of photographing birds and butterflies has proved very helpful. His images appear in these galleries when his photographic skills exceed mine. He will draw me next to Buprestidae.
Thanks also to Ian, Trevor and Christiane for providing some of the interstate specimens. Thanks to Dr. Ken Walker and Dr. Chris Reid for identifications and trying to keep me accurate.
If you have an image and are willing to fill a gap, for the sake of science, please let me know.
My interest in beetles, although obsessive is non professional and part time.
Please feel free to make any suggestions on this work.
In many cases the colors and patterns are more likely to mimic leaf galls. If a hungry bird or curious observer is familiar with leaf galls, these beetles might be completely overlooked even in plain view.
Others seem oblivious to the supposed benefits of camouflage and display brilliant colors and patterns as flamboyant and self confident as the most conceited of tropical birds.
Martin Lagerwey (B.Sc. App.Biol.)
Paropsis pictipennis feeds on tea tree
All borrowed images are attributed.
PaDIL images used with permission.
Paropsis delittlei is endemic to Tas.
Prosternal process with angled lobe on either side of base, with deeply emarginate lateral pronotal margins and acervate elytra; sides of pronotum often emarginate or coarsely crenulate; elytra usually non-striate and acervate interpunctural spaces convex ................................................. Paropsis (Olivier )
