The Australian Achilini include our most beautiful achilids. Achilus flammeus, the red fungus bug, is the best known although much of its biology is still to be revealed. The nymphs, which are drab brown like most Achilidae, live under logs and in leaf litter and, apparently, feed on fungal hyphae. Four colourful species of the genus Aneipo Kirkaldy were recognised by Lambkin (1978). Emeljanov (2005) described (in Russian) five additional genera in the Australian fauna including a number of green forms.

Most of the Australian Achilini are characterised by the presence of only one spine on the tibia and this spine being placed just beyond the midlength of the tibia. However, a few species have three (or four) hind tibial spines which is more than is found in Plectoderini and fewer than in Rhotalini. The width of the pronotum relative to the width of the head across the eyes is also fairly distinctive.

Document 5452, submitted 16 December 2005
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© NSW Agriculture, 2005