Where have all the Christmas beetles gone?
For many Australians these big, ornamental-looking beetles are a happy sign of the start of the silly season – but are their numbers dwindling?
The metallic scarabs are synonymous with summer Down Under – or at least they used to be. Anecdotal evidence suggests Australia’s endemic Christmas beetle (Anoplognathus) population is declining.
Where do Christmas beetles live, and how?
The Christmas beetle is found across Australia, with the exception of our deserts. There are around 35 endemic species, with the most common ones including Anoplognathus chloropyrus and Anoplognathus montanus (both golden-brown beetles).
The classic habitat for Christmas beetles is woodland, where there are plenty of trees and rich soil. The larvae develop in soil, and remain there as curl grubs, feeding on grass and plant roots, as well as the surface roots of eucalypts. As adults they mainly eat eucalyptus leaves.
You’ll see most species emerge as adults in mid-November to early December, and hang around until Christmas and sometimes into February. The adult lifespan is a few weeks, and that’s if they’re fortunate enough not to become a meal for birds.
“If you see them during the day on young eucalypts… they’re usually in clusters trying to mate, with the males pushing each other off females,”
Insect populations globally are declining due to pesticide use and habitat loss. They are the main resources for many birds, small mammals, reptiles and other creatures. Insects are also the keystone to food production. They go we go.
“We adapt our expectations to the current reality, forgetting that not so long ago the natural world looked startlingly different.”
So true. And each generation understands less and less of what we are losing.
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Www.change.org/banneonicotinoids