Australian Jewel Beetles

Geoff Williams OAM, AM is a pollination ecologist, conservation biologist and entomologist with a PhD from the University of New South Wales, and a Research Associate of the Australian Museum. He was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia and appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in recognition of his contributions to science and biodiversity conservation. He is the author of The Invertebrate World of Australia's Subtropical Rainforests (CSIRO Publishing, 2020) and The Flowering of Australia's Rainforests: Pollination Ecology and Plant Evolution (CSIRO Publishing, 2021). Kevin Mitchell has a background in aircraft design and flight aerodynamics. He has had a long-term interest in photography and photographic techniques including stacked image technology, and developed the equipment and techniques responsible for the majority of those images produced for this book. Allen Michael Sundholm OAM has pursued a particular interest in documenting Australia's diverse jewel beetle fauna since 1980. His field studies have resulted in the discovery of numerous new species and new insights into their ecology and distribution. In 2016, Allen was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in recognition of his contributions to conservation and the environment.

Acknowledgements

Preface



1. Introduction

Fossil history

Gondwanan and extra-continental associations

Warning colouration, defence and predators

Life histories

Plant associations

Buprestids as pollinators



Colour section 1: Beetle specimens



2. Composition, ecology and distribution of Australian genera

Subfamily Polycestinae

Subfamily Chrysochroinae

Subfamily Buprestinae

Subfamily Stigmoderinae

Subfamily Agrilinae



Colour section 2: Live beetles



3. Regional buprestid faunas

North Queensland and the Wet Tropics

Central Queensland

Central and western New South Wales

Sydney and the Blue Mountains

Barrington Tops

New England Tablelands and associated montane rainforests

Littoral rainforests of northern New South Wales

Alpine and montane southern New South Wales and eastern Victoria

North-western Victoria

South Australia

South-west Western Australia

Tasmania



Colour section 3: Habitat



4. Threats and conservation



Appendix 1. List of buprestid genera recorded from Australia

Appendix 2. Summary of larval and adult plant relationships

Appendix 3. Pollen loads from Buprestidae collected in lowland subtropical rainforest and wet sclerophyll forest

Appendix 4. Early taxonomists and collectors: 1770–1950

Appendix 5. Divisions of geological time

Glossary

Bibliography

Index