Has the Christmas beetle really returned to Brisbane?

Detailed summary

Large beetles have been spotted across Brisbane’s suburbs – but some are likely imposters.

For many who grew up in Brisbane, Christmas beetles are synonymous with the start of the festive season.

Locals remember the shiny, iridescent insects emerging en masse each year to crawl across lawns, congregate around lights and smash into glass doors.

This spring, large beetles spotted across Brisbane’s suburbs have attracted attention and raised hopes the Christmas beetle has returned in greater numbers after decades of apparent decline.

Early November rains this year brought forth large numbers of the native brown cockchafer beetle in south-east Queensland.

Queensland Museum entomologist Dr Nicole Gunter said this was a species easily mistaken for the Christmas beetle.

“They are in the same family of beetles, but different subfamilies,” she said.

Christmas beetles were also frequently mistaken for the Argentine lawn beetle.

The imposters are dull brown. In contrast, the real thing is shiny, often an iridescent green or metallic brown in keeping with the season, and twice as large.

In welcome news, however, Gunter said south-east Queensland’s wet start to November also made conditions ripe for legitimate varieties of Christmas beetles to emerge.

Opening of the article, excerpted from The Age. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.