CarphurusCarphurus Index Carphurus cyaneipennis Carphurus cyanopterus Carphurus fasciculatus Carphurus frenchi Carphurus longicollis Carphurus pravus
Belonging to the group of beetles genus Carphurus, they are sometimes referred to as Soft-wing Flower Beetle, that are found mainly in Australia and Papua New Guinea. They also have a common name of Pollen Beetle and are part of a group known as Malachite Beetles.
They are predators of soft body small insects. They will also feed on lerps (insects) and the honey-dew produced by the lerps. In the following you can see it checking out an old lerp case on the dead leaf.
It has been suggested that the specimen pictured here is Carphurus cyaneipennis2.
The Carphurus cyaneipennis identification has been based on…
Gabriele Franzini (gabrif), iNaturalist2
I have followed the key in the revision of Lea 1909: https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14686518#page/404/mode/1up .
The original description by Macleay is here:
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/54870#page/281/mode/1up . The shape of antenna seems to match well, so I think this identification is a good attempt, despite the locality so far away from where the species was described. It is an attempt, however. The knowledge about Australian Carphurini is old and very fragmented, and there are no modern papers on the subject.
- Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Subphylum: Hexapoda
- Class: Insecta
- Subclass: Pterygota
- Order: Coleoptera
- Suborder: Polyphaga
- Superfamily: Cleroidea
- Family: Melyridae
- Subfamily: Malachiinae
- Genus: Carphurus
- Species: Carphurus cyaneipennis W.J. Macleay, 1872
Footnote & References
- Many thanks to Isidor Plonski for ID, member of Australasian Beetles Only, Facebook group, https://www.facebook.com/groups/1180404322409639/
- Carphurus, ausemade, iNaturalistAU, https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/observations/188959586
Many thanks to Gabriele Franzini (gabrif) for his input/explanation on the observation. - Carphurus Erichson, 1840, Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/Carphurus
- Genus Carphurus, iNaturalistAU, https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/taxa/375888-Carphurus
- Yellow Soft-winged Flower Beetle – Carphurus sp., Brisbane Insects and Spiders, https://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane_beetles/YellowSoftWingedFlowerBeetle.htm
CarphurusCarphurus Index Carphurus cyaneipennis Carphurus cyanopterus Carphurus fasciculatus Carphurus frenchi Carphurus longicollis Carphurus pravus
ColeopteraColeoptera Index Amarygmus sp Anoplognathus sp Aphanestes gymnopleura Aphanesthes succine Aporocera speciosa Atractocerus crassicornis Blackburnium cavicolle Buprestidae Carphurus Cerambycidae Chalcopteroides (Chalcopterus Beetle) Christmas Beetles Chrysomelidae (Leaf Beetles) Coleoptera (Beetles) Curculionidae Dicranolaius cinctus Dung Beetle Eretes australis Helea scaphiformis Hydrophilus Ladybirds (Beetles) Lepidiota Lucanidae Lycidae Malachiinae Mordellidae (Pintail Beetles) Neospades sp Omorgus Paropsine Beetle Paropsisterna sp Phorticosomus sp Protaetia fusca Pterohelaeus sp Rhinotia haemoptera Rhinotia suturalis Rhipiceridae Scarabaeidae Tenebrionidae Xylophilostenus octophyllus
InsectsInsects Life Cycle… Bees Beetles Blattodea Butterflies Coleoptera Cicada Crabronidae Diptera Dragonflies & Damselflies Formicidae Hemiptera Heteroptera Moths Neuroptera Orthoptera Orthopteroid Processionary Caterpillar Stink Bugs, Shield Bugs and Allies Wasps Water Scorpion (Laccotrephes tristis) Witchetty Grub
