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Christmas Beetle, aka Golden stag beetle

Lamprima aurata

Photo by lori.tas
Published on Project Noah
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-42.5922, 147.222

Field Notes

Description:

The Golden stag beetle (named for the color of the male and his large antennae) is most frequently called the Christmas beetle here in Australia, because it hatches out around Christmas time and because it is brightly colored like a Christmas decoration.

Habitat:

In this instance, dry sclerophyll bushland, but found in much of Australia.

Notes:

This is a female. Unlike the golden males, the females tend to be green and orange, with blue legs.

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (6)

Yes Japh, the common name Christmas beetle is more likely to mean the other beetle you linked to. However, any colorful beetle that appears around Christmas time is likely to get called a Christmas beetle. It took me a while to find that this was the (female) Golden Stag Beetle, because the male has the characteristic color and "stag" antennae: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/3263001
Hey Lori, great shot of the Golden Stag Beetle! Just to clarify, I know we sometimes colloquially refer to them as Christmas Beetles, really these ones are Christmas Beetles: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/15601109 Right?
Lovely spotting Lori. I need some advice about shooting beatles. I am using a 150mm macro lense and flash but the flash is killing all the photos. How do i get better results with the beatles...I want to maintain the natural colors there bodies present. If you prefer, you can write me [email protected]
Fabulous! One antenna looks a bit down in pic2 though. ;)
Photographed
PublishedJanuary 3, 2012

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