Bark bug (nymph)

Neuroctenus grandis

Description:

Sharing a tiny crawl space with slaters, springtails and various other organisms, these strange bugs were about the size of a slater.

Habitat:

Exposed by MartinL between bark and wood on a recently fallen eucalyptus tree trunk. In a local nature reserve.

Notes:

Of the 1,200 Neuroctenus records in Australia only Neuroctenus grandis is found in Victoria. (11 times)
Adult form can be seen here http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/349...
order: HEMIPTERA
suborder: HETEROPTERA
infraorder: PENTATOMOMORPHA
superfamily: ARADOIDEA
family: ARADIDAE
subfamily: Mezirinae
http://www.boldsystems.org/index.php/Tax...
http://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:b...

Species ID Suggestions

7 Comments

Mark Ridgway 9 years ago

..it's definitely not tropical here doc... (brrr)

MartinL 9 years ago

Bayucca. I have read the text on this link very closely, (requiring the CTRL and + button to enlarge) Page 32 describes the range of handschini as being tropical and ranging south only to Proserpine Qld. Grandis is on page 26 and ranges through Victoria and the Dandenong Ranges, where we are. The maps on page 41 reflect this but are hard to read (squares look like triangles) I think I read them incorrectly. Cross referencing with ALA and Boldsystems seems to confirm this.
http://biostor.org/reference/105278

bayucca 9 years ago

Hi guys. Martin still has his adults as Grandis, with a positive report for Handschinii in Victoria. So, is this one now Grandis or Handschinii??
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/349....

MartinL 9 years ago

Do we have two different instars maybe?

Here is the reference I used to include N handschini
http://biostor.org/reference/105278
After further perusal, I have accepted your sugestion.
Thanks

Mark Ridgway 9 years ago

Martin you might want to recheck yours. Neuroctenus grandis looks the same and is recorded in Vic whereas N handschini is not. See BoldSystems link for pics.