Australian Longhorn Beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) Volume 1

WHITLEY-MEDAL_SILVER_2014

Hardback - September 2013 - AU $150.00

eBook - September 2013 - eRetailers

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An introduction to the Australian Cerambycidae, including biology, phylogeny and morphology of adult and larvae.

Longhorn Beetles — Cerambycidae are one of the most easily recognised groups of beetles, a family that worldwide encompasses over 33,000 species in 5,200 genera. With over 1,400 species classified in 300 genera, this is the sixth largest among 117 beetle families in Australia. + Full description

These beetles often attack and kill living forest or orchard trees and develop in construction timber (like European House borer, introduced to WA), causing serious damages. Virtually all Cerambycidae feed on living or dead plant tissues and play a significant role in all terrestrial environments where plants are found. Larvae often utilise damaged or dead trees for their development, and through feeding on rotten wood form an important element of the saproxylic fauna, speeding energy circulation in these habitats. Many species are listed as quarantine pests because of their destructive role to the timber industry.

This volume provides a general introduction to the Australian Cerambycidae with sections on biology, phylogeny and morphology of adult and larvae, followed by the keys to the subfamilies and an overview of the 74 genera of the subfamily Lamiinae occurring in Australia. All Lamiinae genera are diagnosed, described and illustrated and an illustrated key to their identification is provided. A full listing of all included Australian species with synonymies and bibliographic citations is also included.

Biologists worldwide, curators and staff at natural history museums, quarantine/inspection services, entomologists and collectors - many of these beetles are collector's items.

Winner of the 2016 J.O. Westwood Medal
Winner of the 2014 Whitley Medal

- Short description

News

Winner of the 2016 J.O. Westwood Medal

Winner of the 2014 Whitley Medal

Produced with the assistance of the Australian Biological Resources Study (external link).

Reviews

"This is another quality book from Adam Slipinski,.., and along with Hermes Escalona they have produced an invaluable and superbly illustrated resource for the Australian Lamiinae. Such texts are like gold mines to amateur and professional entomologists, and I can highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in beetles"
Dr Laurie Cookson, Victorian Entomologist, 44(1) February 2014

"We recommend this book to anyone interested in Australian beetles, and especially those with a passion for longhorns. This comprehensive treatment of Australian Lamiinae will appeal to a wide audience, from amateur collectors to port identifiers. We look forward to the next two volumes!"
Eugenio H. Nearns and Gerard L. Tavakilian, Systematic Entomology, 2014

"This book will be of enormous value to graduate students in entomology and academic/museum staff working with longhorn beetles."
D. A. Bass, CHOICE, September 2014, pp. 106-107

"Well written and beautifully illustrated... This book will be valued by amateur collectors, professional systematists, and personnel of state and federal agencies who are charged with identifying beetles that have been intercepted in international quarantine. Moreover, any true fan of longhorned beetles will cherish this volume for its stunning collection of images, which in my view qualifies it as not only an excellent reference, but even as a fascinating coffee-table book that will be appreciated even by nonentomologists."
Lawrence M. Hanks, The Quarterly Review of Biology, Vol 90, September 2015, pp. 348-349

"These books are the culmination of a monumental effort to document the current taxonomic state of an incredibly diverse fauna sometimes plagued by taxonomic confusion and in urgent need of further study using modern methodologies and principles. To this end, I believe the authors have done an excellent job at establishing a clear starting point from which to carry on tribal and species-level studies."
Arthur V. Evans, The Coleopterists Bulletin, 71(2), 2017

Details

Hardback | September 2013 | $150.00
ISBN: 9781486300037 | 504 pages | 297 x 210 mm
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Colour plates

ePDF | September 2013
ISBN: 9781486300044
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Available from eRetailers

Features

  • Volume 1 of a three volume set
  • Includes a general introduction to family Cerambycidae, keys to subfamilies (adult and larvae) and generic revision of Australian Lamiinae
  • Contains detailed description of about 80 genera, each genus followed by a critical checklist of around 600 species described from Australia, including about 10 new genera. This will be the first ever treatment of Australian Cerambycidae at genus level with hundreds of new synonymies, new combinations and biological and distribution data
  • Includes 200 colour plates with illustrations of entire beetles for almost all species, which will aid users in identification (as these relatively large beetles can be identified relatively easily using pictures alone)
  • Also available: Australian Longhorn Beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) Volume 2

Contents

Abstract
Acknowledgements
Material and methods
Family Cerambycidae
Introduction
Morphology of adult beetles
Morphology of larvae and pupae
Biology and ecology
Economic importance
Geographic distribution
Phylogeny and classification
Australian Cerambycidae
History of research
Higher classification of Australian Cerambycidae
Diagnosis of Family Cerambycidae
Keys to subfamilies of Australian Cerambycidae
Adults
Larvae
Subfamily Lamiinae
Classification of Australian Lamiinae
Diagnosis of Subfamily Lamiinae
Key to adults of genera of Lamiinae in Australia
Review of the Australian genera of Lamiinae
Lamiinae figures
Appendix 1: New synonymies
Appendix 2: New generic combinations proposed for Australian species
Appendix 3: Type specimens, Australian and extra-Australian
Bibliography
Index of scientific names

Authors

Adam Slipinski did his PhD and DSc in Poland where he worked for 20 years at the Museum and Institute of Zoology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw and held a joint appointment as the professor of biology at the University of Zielona Gora teaching entomology and environmental biology. He has been a research scientist at the Australian National Insect Collection for the last 13 years. He is the author of over 160 research publications, editor of a two-volume book on the phylogeny and classification of beetles and an author of a book on Australian ladybird beetles. Adam’s research concentrates on the phylogeny and higher classification of beetles.

Hermes Escalona earned his PhD in Entomology from the Universidad Central de Venezuela in 2012. He is interested in systematics, evolution, and historical biogeography of Coleoptera, with a current focus on Longhorns beetles (Cerambycidae) and small beetle families within Cucujiformia. He is currently affiliated with the Museo del Instituto de Zoología Agrícola-UCV and is a visiting scientist at the Australian National Insect Collection working with Adam Slipinski on the Australian Cerambycidae.