Giant females and bird-of-paradise flies: Notes on the biology of Callipappus Guérin-Méneville (Hemiptera: Margarodidae)

Aspects of the life-history, distribution and behaviour of the Australian genus Callipappus (Hemiptera: Margarodidae) are reported for the first time. Adult males and females of most species emerge in autumn and immediately mate, after which females attach to aerial vegetation and invaginate their posterior abdomen to form a marsupium in which their eggs develop. First-instar nymphs exit the marsupium and enter the soil for nymphal development, which takes place within a waxy cyst. Nymphs feed attached by their stylets to the roots of heathland, woodland and mallee plants, including Banksia species and probably Xanthorrhoea species. The timing of their life cycle means that populations of Callipappus seem particularly vulnerable to autumn fuel-reduction burns.