Green Christmas Beetle
Scientific Name: Anoplognathus prasinus
Other Common Names: New World Scarab Beetle
Species documented in 1840 by Castelnau / Laporte.
Description
A rare beetle with an overall green colouring with some punctation. Very similar to the Leaf
Green Christmas Beetle (Anoplognathus punctulatus) and differential identification between the
two can sometimes be quite difficult. The Green Christmas Beetle can grow up to 30mm in size.
Reproduction/Lifecycle
Habitat
Coastal north east New South Wales and south east Queensland as far north as
Yeppoon (AustMus, 2003). They are reported to only occur in subtropical rainforest or adjacent
wet sclerophyll forest (Williams, 2002) however there are also unconfirmed reports of this
particular species to venture into residential areas.
Diet
Miscellaneous
Adult Christmas Beetles are active from November to February, and
attracted to light (AustMus, 2003).
Found in:
NSW,QLD,
References/Bibliography:
Shattuck, S & Barnett, N. 20th
August, 2006. Specimen List, CSIRO Entomology. Available from:
<http://anic.ento.csiro.au/database/specimen_list.aspx?BiotaID=26069> [Accessed 3rd
February 2007]
Australian Mueseum, 2003. Key to the Christmas Beetles of New
South Wales, Australian Museum. Available from:
<http://www.faunanet.gov.au/faunakeys/christmas_intro.htm> [Accessed 3rd February 2007]
Williams, Geoff. 2002. A Taxonomic and Biogeographic Review of the
Invertebrates of the Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves of Australia (CERRA), Australian
Museum Publications. p27.
