The habitat of this beetle is an area of low sand dunes on the Cromwell river terrace, known as the “Cromwell shallow sand”.
The dunes are formed by loess originally deposited by the Clutha River.
As P. lewisii seems to be adapted to burrowing in these inland dunes, its entire natural range was probably never more than 500 hectares.

The species is currently restricted to an 81 hectare nature reserve, between Bannockburn and Cromwell.
Regular surveys of the beetle suggest they are only using 12% of the habitat available in the reserve.
The habitat of this beetle is an area of low sand dunes on the Cromwell river terrace, known as the “Cromwell shallow sand”. The dunes are formed by loess originally deposited by the Clutha River. As P. lewisii seems to be adapted to burrowing in these inland dunes, its entire natural range was probably never more than 500 hectares.
The species is currently restricted to an 81 hectare nature reserve, between Bannockburn and Cromwell. Regular surveys of the beetle suggest they are only using 12% of the habitat available in the reserve.
Cromwell chafer beetle