Kingdom Animalia Family Chrysomelidae Rank Genus | Class Insecta Phylum Arthropoda Order Beetle | |
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Similar Beetle, Peltoschema, Chalcolampra, Calomela, Paropsisterna | ||
Paropsides calypso eating lilly pilly hedge
Paropsides is a genus of beetles commonly called leaf beetles and in the subfamlily Chrysomelinae. Paropsides are small and specialist feeders on native Australian plants. There are 21 species in Australia and they occur mainly on the south-eastern states. The green Paropsides calypso is a native species which commonly attacks Lilly Pilly Syzygium. Paropsides opposita feeds on Tea tree Melaleuca sp.
Paropsides belongs to the Paropsis-group of genera, with similar head, appendages, prosternum, elytra, tarsi and larva. Among these genera it is defined by possession of a single attribute, a full complement of pronotal (thoracic) trichobothria (bristles), which is almost certainly a plesiomorphy. Paropsides is therefore unlikely to be monophyletic.