Error message
Unable to fetch location details at this time.
Fiddler beetle
Eupoecila australasiae
-37.7941, 145.01
Field Notes
Description:
Bright cetonid beetle (flower beetle) with conspicuous green stripes on shiny brown shell.
Habitat:
Feeding on the only flowering Sweet bursaria flowers on a hilltop in Melbourne parkland (Yarra bend).
Notes:
Feeding on fragrant Thorny box (Bursaria spinosa). About six flew away very rapidly but these two amoruos individuals stayed a few more distracted moments for this photo opportunity.
Unlike most beetles that open their wing covers and then their wings, cetonids slide their wings out in one rapid movement, instantly flying away with no warning.
Over winter I found several cocoons in a dead tree and grew them out to reveal this same beetle. http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/7719233.
Reference Links:
Fiddler Beetle - Australian Museum
Species ID Suggestions
Spotted for Missions
Photographed
PublishedDecember 30, 2011
Comments (4)