Chrysomelidae (Coleoptera) and other phytophagous insects in a plantation of black wattle, Acacia mearnsii De Wild, in southeastern Australia

The species composition and relative abundances of foliage-feeding adult beetles were monitored in a plantation of juvenile black wattle, Acacia mearnsii De Wild., from spring 1992 until late February 1993. The insect assemblage was dominated by leaf beetles (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), which belonged to 4 subfamilies (Chrysomelinae, Cryptocephalinae, Galerucinae and Eumolpinae) and 21 species. Two species, Calomela parilis Lea (Chrysomelinae) and Monolepta ordinaria Blackburn (Galerucinae), each contributed about 25% of the total chrysomelid abundance for the study period, with M. ordinaria most abundant in November and December 1992 and C. parilis most common in January and February 1993. Adult beetles of 26 chrysomelid species were recorded on bipinnate wattles in nearby open forest, including all species recorded in the plantation. Other significant insects in the plantation were the Botany Bay weevil Chrysolopus spectabilis (Fab.) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), the mealybug Maconellicoccus australiensis (Green and Lidgett) (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) and the green treehopper Sextius virescens (Fairmaire) (Hemiptera: Membracidae).