Christmas beetle

Short description: Genus of beetles

Christmas beetle

Anoplognathus pallidicollis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:  | Animalia
Phylum:  | Arthropoda
Class:  | Insecta
Order:  | Coleoptera
Family:  | Scarabaeidae
Subfamily:  | Rutelinae
Genus:  | Anoplognathus
Leach, 1819
Species

See text

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.

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:

* Anoplognathus abnormis
* Anoplognathus aeneus
* Anoplognathus aureus
* Anoplognathus blackdownensis
* Anoplognathus boisduvalii
* Anoplognathus brevicollis
* Anoplognathus brunnipennis
* Anoplognathus chloropyrus
* Anoplognathus concolor
* Anoplognathus daemeli
* Anoplognathus flavipennis
* Anoplognathus flindersensis
* Anoplognathus hirsutus
* Anoplognathus macalpinei
* Anoplognathus macleayi
* Anoplognathus montanus
* Anoplognathus multiseriatus
* Anoplognathus narmarus
* Anoplognathus nebulosus
* Anoplognathus olivieri
* Anoplognathus pallidicollis
* Anoplognathus parvulus
* Anoplognathus pindarus
* Anoplognathus porosus
* Anoplognathus prasinus
* Anoplognathus punctulatus
* Anoplognathus rhinastus
* Anoplognathus rothschildti
* Anoplognathus rubiginosus
* Anoplognathus rugosus
* Anoplognathus smaragdinus
* Anoplognathus suturalis
* Anoplognathus velutinus
* Anoplognathus viridiaeneus
* Anoplognathus viriditarsis

## References

1. ↑ [1]
2. ↑ "Christmas Beetles" in Tasmania
3. ↑ Australian Museum, Bushblitz, Mike HB Illustration. Xmas Beetle ID Guide mobile app. Via [2]

* Anoplognathus, ANIC Specimen Database. Australian National Insect Collection, CSIRO Entomology

Wikidata ☰ Q2852318 entry

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