Christmas beetle

Christmas beetle is a name commonly applied to the Australian beetle genus Anoplognathus, which belongs to the subfamily Rutelinae.[1] They are known as Christmas beetles because they are abundant in both urban and rural areas close to Christmas. Christmas beetles are large (20–30 mm long) members of the scarab family that are noisy and clumsy fliers, similar to the cockchafers of Europe. They typically have elytra that are dark or light brown, or green, while some species have a green-yellow iridescence.

Christmas beetle
Anoplognathus pallidicollis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Scarabaeidae
Subfamily: Rutelinae
Genus: Anoplognathus
Leach, 1819
Species

See text

The genus includes 35 species, several of which have been implicated in dieback of eucalypts. Anoplognathus pallidicollis is the species most commonly observed and associated with the name of Christmas beetle. However, there is a tendency for the name Christmas beetle to be used more ambiguously to refer to other metallic beetles not in this family, such as the stag beetle genus Lamprima.[2] The smaller Argentine lawn beetle, Cyclocephala signaticollis, is prevalent in December and may also be referred to as a "Christmas beetle", labelled by the Australian Museum as an "impostor".[3]

Species

Species include:

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Anoplognathus.
Wikispecies has information related to Christmas beetle.
  2. "Christmas Beetles" in Tasmania
  3. Australian Museum, Bushblitz, Mike HB Illustration. Xmas Beetle ID Guide mobile app. Via
  • Anoplognathus, ANIC Specimen Database. Australian National Insect Collection, CSIRO Entomology
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