''Anoplognathus pallidicollis'' is a relatively large

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

of the family Scarabaeidae, native to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The beetle has a life span of 24 months and it grows up to 20 mm in length. Adults were once common in the summer months, particularly around

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

, resulting in the common name of

Christmas beetle Christmas beetle is a name commonly applied to the Australian beetle genus ''Anoplognathus''. 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&nbs ...

for the species (and also for other members of its genus). The beetles have rich glossy brown elytra and clypeus, and clawed legs covered in multiple barbs. Like all ''Anoplognathus'' species, the forelegs are of uneven lengths, possibly to better enable them to cling to thin ''

Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as euca ...

'' leaves. The beetles are nocturnal, and are attracted to lights at night. They can often be found around outdoor lighting or crawling into homes. Studies show that they are most active around

sunset Sunset, also known as sundown, is the daily disappearance of the Sun below the horizon due to Earth's rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth (except the North and South poles), the equinox Sun sets due west at the moment of both the spring ...

and the hours immediately after. Their numbers are believed to be in decline, most likely due to habitat loss.

Life cycle

Larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

e live underground, feeding on plant

root In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the sur ...

s and decaying vegetation. They normally eat the roots of native

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...

es, but will also eat the roots of

crops A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. When the plants of the same kind are cultivated at one place on a large scale, it is called a crop. Most crops are cultivated in agriculture or hydroponics ...

, lawns, and

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or swine ...

. Vegetation in regions infested with Christmas beetle larvae withers and yellows; this is a common cause of dead or yellow patches seen in suburban Australian lawns. In late winter or early spring, larvae move to the surface of the soil and

pupa A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their ...

te. Several weeks later, adults emerge. They wait for rain to soften the soil, allowing them to burrow out. Spring

thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are someti ...

s can trigger the emergence of large numbers of beetles in a short time. Conversely, beetles can be caught underground by extended dry periods, causing them to die without emerging. Newly emerged adult beetles fly to a suitable nearby plant to feed and mate. They favour ''Eucalyptus'' leaves as food. They can cause severe defoliation when they emerge in large numbers in response to favourable weather conditions. After mating, females return to the soil to lay eggs. Adult Christmas beetles have a long active cycle, remaining common throughout the entire southern summer .

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4770140 Scarabaeidae Beetles of Australia Beetles described in 1851

Life cycle

See also

References