| Blapsilon austrocaledonicum | |
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| Species: | B. austrocaledonicum |
| Binomial name | |
| Blapsilon austrocaledonicum (Montrouzier, 1861) | |
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Blapsilon austrocaledonicum is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae. It was described by Xavier Montrouzier in 1861, originally under the genus Lamia . It is known from New Caledonia. It feeds on Araucaria laubenfelsii . [1]
Beetles are a group of insects that form the order Coleoptera, in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 species, is the largest of all orders, constituting almost 40% of described insects and 25% of all known animal life-forms; new species are discovered frequently. The largest of all families, the Curculionidae (weevils) with some 80,000 member species, belongs to this order. Found in almost every habitat except the sea and the polar regions, they interact with their ecosystems in several ways: beetles often feed on plants and fungi, break down animal and plant debris, and eat other invertebrates. Some species are serious agricultural pests, such as the Colorado potato beetle, while others such as Coccinellidae eat aphids, scale insects, thrips, and other plant-sucking insects that damage crops.
Reverendus Pater Jean Xavier Hyacinthe Montrouzier was a French Marist priest, explorer, botanist, zoologist and entomologist. Abbé Montrouzier studied the flora and fauna of Melanesia especially New Caledonia.
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France, currently governed under the Nouméa Accord, located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, to the south of Vanuatu, about 1,210 km (750 mi) east of Australia and 20,000 km (12,000 mi) from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Chesterfield Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of Pines, and a few remote islets. The Chesterfield Islands are in the Coral Sea. French people, and especially locals, refer to Grande Terre as Le Caillou.
