A revised key and notes on the Tasmanian genera of chrysomelinae (coleoptera : chrysomelidae)

The leaf beetle sub-family Chrysomelinae contains a number of species that are prominent defoliators of Eucalyptus (sensu lat:o) spp. and Acacia spp. in Tasmania, especially the Tasmanian Eucalyptus Leaf Beetle, Paropsisterna bimaculata (Olivier, 1807), the Southern Eucalyptus Leaf Beetle, P. agricola (Chapuis, 1877) and the Fireblight Beetle, Peltoscherna orphana (Erichson, 1842). Daccordi & de Little (2003) provided a key to adults of the Tasmanian genera of Chrysomelinae, based on the key of Matthews & Reid (2002) for South Australian genera, but overlooked the genera Eugastromela Lea, 1929 and Chalcomela Baly, 1856. Reid (200 6) revised the Australian genera of Chrysomelinae, providing detailed generic descriptions and including genera with species successfully introduced into Australia as biological control agents. The most significant impact of this work in relation to the Chrysomelinae of Tasmania is the synonymy of the economically important genus Chrysophtharta Weise, 1901 with Paropsisterna Motschulsky, 1860 (senior synonym). The current paper revises the generic key in Daccordi & de Little (2003) in line with Reid's (2006) revision and includes the two overlooked genera. Notes are provided on the currently recognised Tasmanian genera of Chrysomelinae, and, where known, their host-plants. Chrysolina spp. introduced into Tasmania as biological control agents against Boneseed, Chrysanthemoides monilifera (L.) T. Norl., are not considered at the current time to have successfully established (Ireson 2002), and this genus is therefore not included in the key