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| Genus: | Synechocera Deyrolle, 1864 |
Synechocera is a genus of beetles in the family Buprestidae, the jewel beetles. They are native to Australia. [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 83,000 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.
Buprestidae is a family of beetles known as jewel beetles or metallic wood-boring beetles because of their glossy iridescent colors. Larvae of this family are known as flatheaded borers. The family is among the largest of the beetles, with some 15,500 species known in 775 genera. In addition, almost 100 fossil species have been described.
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. It is the largest country in Oceania and the world's sixth-largest country by total area. The neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and East Timor to the north; the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east. The population of 26 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard. Australia's capital is Canberra, and its largest city is Sydney. The country's other major metropolitan areas are Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide.
These beetles are elongated and flattened in shape, measuring under one centimeter in length. Their flattened shape makes them distinct from related genera and might be an adaptation for living between densely arranged leaves on plants. They are usually black in color, but some species are coppery brown or occasionally blue. [1]
The larvae of S. tasmanica have been observed tunneling into the stems of sedges (genus Gahnia ). They then "pack their bright yellow frass into the central hollow portion" of the stems and pupate there. [1]
A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle.
The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges, which superficially resemble the closely related rushes and the more distantly related grasses. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus Carex with over 2,000 species. These species are widely distributed, with the centers of diversity for the group occurring in tropical Asia and tropical South America. While sedges may be found growing in almost all environments, many are associated with wetlands, or with poor soils. Ecological communities dominated by sedges are known as sedgelands.
Gahnia is a genus of sedges native to China, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand and a number of Pacific Islands. The common name is due to the toothed margins. It often forms tussocks.
Species include: [2]
- Synechocera albohirta (Carter, 1921)
- Synechocera bicolor (Bellamy, 1987)
- Synechocera brooksi (Bellamy, 1987)
- Synechocera burnsi (Bellamy, 1987)
- Synechocera cynaeipennis (Carter, 1924)
- Synechocera deplana (Fabricius, 1801)
- Synechocera elongata (Thomson, 1879)
- Synechocera parvipennis (Bellamy, 1987)
- Synechocera queenslandica (Bellamy, 1987)
- Synechocera setosa (Carter, 1924)
