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Anoplognathus aureus

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Species of beetle

Anoplognathus aureus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Scarabaeidae
Genus: Anoplognathus
Species: A. aureus
Binomial name
Anoplognathus aureus
Waterhouse, 1889
Synonyms
  • Calloodes frenchi Blackburn, 1890
  • Anoplognathus concinnus Blackburn, 1900

Anoplognathus aureus, commonly known as the gold Christmas beetle, is a beetle of the family Scarabaeidae native to northern Australia, from northeastern Queensland to northern Western Australia. It is prized by collectors.

English entomologist Charles Owen Waterhouse described the gold Christmas beetle in 1889. The species name is the Latin adjective aureus "golden". The Reverend Thomas Blackburn described Calloodes frenchi in 1890, from a specimen given to him by Australian entomologist Charles French. Blackburn doubted the genus Calloodes was distinct from Anoplognathus. Blackburn described Anoplognathus concinnus in 1900, which turned out to be a red-brown colour variant of this species.

The beetle is a brass-gold, gold or shiny red-brown colour with red-brown legs. Red-brown beetles have a gold sheen on their mesosternum and abdomen, and behind the head. The male is 12.5–14 millimetres (0.49–0.55 in) long, while the female is 14.5–16.5 millimetres (0.57–0.65 in) long. The margins of the male's scutellum have a purple tinge. The male's clypeus has a narrowed apex while that of the female has a more rounded shape. The elytra are smooth or have fine grooves along the sides. The pygidium is shallowly convex in profile.

It is found in north Queensland from Cairns and Mossman south to Innisfail, and has been recorded from Broome in Western Australia. It is not commonly encountered.

It has been recorded on Hibiscus tiliaceus, Breynia cernua and Tristemma mauritianum. There is some evidence it attacks sugarcane crops on the Atherton Tableland.

References

  1. Australian Biological Resources Study (17 December 2010). "Species Anoplognathus aureus Waterhouse, 1889". Australian Faunal Directory. Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Australian Government. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  2. ^ Hangay, George; Zborowski, Paul (2010). A Guide to the Beetles of Australia. Collingwood, Victoria: CSIRO Publishing. p. 99. ISBN 978-0-643-10193-7.
  3. ^ Waterhouse, Charles Own (1889). ". Descriptions of two new Coleoptera in the British Museum (Buprestidae and Rutelidae)". Annals of Natural History. 3 (16): 360–61. doi:10.1080/00222938909460345.
  4. Blackburn, Thomas (1890). "Notes on Australian Coleoptera, with descriptions of new species. Part VI". Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. 15: 147–56 .
  5. ^ Arrow, Gilbert J. (1919). "XLI.— Notes on Ruteline Coleoptera and descriptions of a few new species in the British Museum". Journal of Natural History. 4 (24): 379–85. doi:10.1080/00222931908673907.
  6. ^ Carne, P.B. (1957). "A revision of the ruteline genus Anoplognathus Leach (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)". Australian Journal of Zoology. 5 (1): 88–143 . doi:10.1071/zo9570088.
  7. Carne, P.B. (1981). "Three new species of anoplognathus leach, and new distribution records for poorly known species (coleoptera: scarabaeidea: rutelinae)". Austral Entomology. 20 (4): 289–294. doi:10.1111/j.1440-6055.1981.tb01049.x. S2CID 85151754.
  8. Sallam, N.; Burgess, D.J.W.; Lowe, G.E.; Peck, D.R. (2011). "Survey of sugarcane pests and their natural enemies on the Atherton Tableland, far north Queensland" (PDF). Proc Aust Soc Sugar Cane Technol. 33: 1–8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-08-12. Retrieved 2017-12-18.
Taxon identifiers
Anoplognathus aureus
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