Christmas beetles can take a hint. Photo: Melanie Cook. Christmas Beetles Go Back. What do Christmas Beetles look like? Where are Christmas Beetles found? Fast facts: The Christmas beetle is a type of scarab beetle and is related to the rhinoceros beetle and dung beetle.
Heavy spring rains and thunderstorms provide the perfect conditions for Christmas beetles to hatch out of the soil. Long droughts and very dry conditions that make it harder for their babies to hatch.
Christmas Beetles — the full story Christmas beetles emerge each summer around Christmastime after waiting underground all year.
Christmas beetles like: Moist, but not too wet, environments. Grassy woodlands. Mature eucalypt leaves. Especially if it rains in the later afternoon, be sure to watch where you step on the lawn. You might walk right into the middle of a huge bunch of brand new Christmas beetles. Losing all of their food sources. Be a Buddy to Christmas beetles Try to: Keep your garden in balance with native eucalypts.
Too few trees in your area will mean that the Christmas beetles will all collect on the one tree. The Australian Museum respects and acknowledges the Gadigal people as the First Peoples and Traditional Custodians of the land and waterways on which the Museum stands. Image credit: gadigal yilimung shield made by Uncle Charles Chicka Madden. This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Learn more. Skip to main content Skip to acknowledgement of country Skip to footer King Beetle left and two unnamed Christmas beetles L-r: Anoplognathus viridiaeneus, Anoplognathus hirsutus and Anoplognathus brunnipennis.
Introduction There are about 35 species of Christmas beetles family Scarabaeidae , eight of which occur in Sydney. Identification Christmas beetles have vibrant colours and the adults emerge close to the Christmas period. Habitat Christmas beetles are found in forests and woodlands.
Distribution Christmas beetles are found in southern and eastern Australia. Eight species alone occur in Sydney. All are attracted to bright lights at night. In the home garden, Christmas beetles are seldom a problem. In fact, they are usually controlled naturally by native animals such as possums, currawongs, magpies and predatory wasps. However, if they do reach plague proportions they can have a big impact on even healthy trees.
Colonies can be disrupted with jets of water. When disturbed during the day adults drop straight to the ground, so laying plastic sheets underneath heavily infested trees and then shaking the tree or disturbing the beetles with jets of water will cause them to drop onto the plastic.
They can then be collected and destroyed. Spraying is not recommended as it is difficult to apply chemicals to large trees and the beetles move when disturbed. Christmas beetles are an ideal insect to introduce to children as they are quite placid especially after a big night out. Information sources: www. A good news story from New Scientist magazine, 27 May Two thousand years ago, the Mayans planted millions of nut trees in their central….
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