Coleoptera inhabiting mixed eucalypt forest and radiata pine plantations in North-eastern Victoria.  F.G. Neumann.  December 1975.  26 pp. (unpubl.)

SUMMARY

This report contains the results of a survey during 1972-73 of beetles inhabiting mature eucalypt forest and adjacent plantations of Pinus radiata (D. Don) of three ages near Myrtleford. Fifty-one native families were found, of which 46 families were in pine. Among the families found in eucalypts, but not so far in pine, where the relatively rare Scydmaenidae, Rhipiceridae, Silvanidae, Lagriidae and Attelabidae. The number of airborne families recovered between 10.00 a.m. and 4.00 p.m. from mature and young pine were 29 and 26 respectively. In mature eucalypts, 24 families were trapped, and in intermediate-age pine only 19. Staphylinidae, Melyridae, Coccinellidae, Chrysomelidae and Curculionidae seemed airborne during most the year in both eucalypt and pine forest.

A total of 186 species were collected, and of the 121 species found in pine, 118 have not previously been recorded in Victorian plantations. The Anobid Ernobius mollis L., and the Curculionids Hylastes ater (Payk.) and Hylurgus ligniperda F., all of Northern Hemisphere origin, were the only introduced species recovered from pine. Generally, the abundance and diversity of Coleoptera seemed greater in stands of mature pine compared with younger pine stands or the mature eucalypt forest. The ecological status of most of the species found in both eucalypt and pine forests needs clarification.

Also published:

Neumann, F.G. (1979)  Beetle communities in eucalypt and pine forests in North-eastern Victoria.  Aust. For. Res. 9: 277-93.