Buprestidae of South Australia
( Jewel beetles )
by Peter J. Lang
Cyrioides imperialis   (Fabricius, 1801)
subfamily  Buprestinae » tribe  Epistomentini » subtribe  Epistomentina
Cyrioides imperialis   Adult images
Cyrioides imperialis, PL0965, male, on Banksia marginata (for photo) Cyrioides imperialis, PL1091, male
Cyrioides imperialis  Distinctive features

A large distinctive black and yellow beetle of glossy appearance.

Notes

A genus of six species associated with Banksia in both western and eastern Australia. The genus Banksia is poorly represented in SA with only two native species present, and the sole species of Cyrioides recorded, C. imperialis - an eastern species, appears to be very rare here. There are only three collections in the SA Museum, all from the Mt Lofty Ranges. In his 'Common native insects of South Australia', Tepper 1887 noted that 'they appear to be very local'.

Distribution
SA Regions¹:  SL
Australian States:  SATASVICNSWACTQLD
Southern South Australian occurrences
LegendP.J.Lang collection vouchered records
other private collection or museum specimens, or sightings
Satellite map
Terrain map
Enlarge map
Adult activity records for Cyrioides imperialis  (total actual records: 2 beetles)
2
Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
Legend
9
number of active beetles, actually recorded in that quarter-month
actual count > 2 (median)
actual count <= 2 (median)
Adult host plant
beetles sites SA regions¹ family position on host plant
21SLP
Legendbeetlescount of beetles collected from, or sighted on, host plant taxon
sitescount of major sites (unique 10 km grid cells +/- some distinct approximate localities)
Plant names in green are hyperlinked to a matching host species page with plant photos.
Plant family
Code beetles % host plant taxa
P Proteaceae 2 100% 1
Position on adult host
positionbeetlessites
on plant (unspecified)21
Host plant notes

Tepper 1887 reported that 'the larvae inhabit Banksia marginata (the Native Honeysuckle), on the flowers and leaves of which the beetles are also found about Christmas'. That C. imperialis breeds in Banksia was confirmed by French 1900 for B. integrifolia in coastal southern Victoria where he describes larvae often chewing down into the main root system 8 to 10 inches below ground, and reports finding one in the tap-root of a Banksia of small size.

¹ LegendregionsSA State Herbarium regions (map)
EA: Eastern, EP: Eyre Peninsula, FR: Flinders Ranges, GT: Gairdner-Torrens, KI: Kangaroo Island, LE: Lake Eyre, MU: Murray, NL: Northern Lofty, NU: Nullarbor, NW: North-Western, SE: South-Eastern, SL: Southern Lofty, YP: Yorke Peninsula