New Book on Australian Jewel

 

Front Cover

A wonderful new book has just appeared. It features the colourful Australian Jewel Beetles, family Buprestidae. Owing to their size, colours and patterns, the Jewel Beetles are among the most popular with collectors world-wide. The Buprestidae is the eighth largest family of beetles (the beetles are represented by around 450,000 described species). Australia has over 1200 species of Buprestidae.

The physical shape of buprestids is easily recognised. But the colour and patterns are extraordinary in their variability. The authors state in the Preface that the book is "intended to be an introduction to the interrelationships and diversity of Australia's spectacular buprestid fauna, from which we trust will follow a greater concern for the fauna's conservation, and that of the landscapes and plant communities in which buprestids dwell and interact." It will do more than that and may stimulate an interest in both collecting and photographing these living Australian gems.

Both buprestid larvae and adults are plant feeders. The larvae have a distinctive shape are often found under bark where they feed on plant tissue. The adults are usually found feeding in flowers on sunny days. A small number of adults have nocturnal habits.

The book has sections on fossil history, Gondawanan and extra-continental associations, warning colours and defence and predators.

The excellently reproduced colour plates are in three sections. "Beetle Specimens, Live Beetles, Regional buprestid faunas and habitats.

The photographs in the Live Beetles section were done by Kevin Mitchell who utilised "stacked focus" to achieve the terrific results.

Beetle Specimens

The "Live Beetles" section shows some of the beetles in nature. The splendid photographs were taken mostly by Geoff Williams and Alan Sundholm.

Habitus photos

These photographs are arranged on a regional basis. This should be helpful to folks speeding up the process in beetle identification. The main text of the book comprises statements on general distribution and "comments" that will help identification. There are also notes on plant associations. At the end of each species writeup, general references are provided. 

The book concludes with five Appendices comprising a list of genera, summary of larval and adult plant relationships, pollen loads collected from collected beetles. Historians will be delighted with the appendix on early taxonomists and buprestid collectors. The appendix on the divisions of geological time should be helpful to students and researchers alike. A glossary, bibliography and index complete the book.

DetailS

Australian Jewel Beetles An introduction to the Buprestidae by Geoff Williams, Kevin Mitchell and Allen M. Sundholm. 215 pages. Published by CSIRO Publishing 36 Gardiner Rd, Clayton, Vic., 3168. Price $Au199.