Leatherwing beetle looking for love
I came across this single leatherwing beetle, but it didn't remain alone for long.
I was witness to the sudden appearance of hundreds of them filling the sky, living up to their other common name of plague soldier beetle. I gather this is a mating frenzy.
Within a minute or so, myself and this native Melaleuca trichostachya bush were covered in them.
15 mm body length.
The plague soldier beetle or green soldier beetle is a species of soldier beetle native to Australia. It has a flattened body to 15 millimetres long with a prominent yellow-orange stripe behind the black prothorax. The abdomen is yellow-orange but is mostly obscured by the metallic olive green elytra.
Similar species: Beetles
By Ruth Spigelman
Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives
Uploaded Dec 15, 2022. Captured Nov 27, 2022 14:00 in 3P2Q+3R Merewether NSW, Australia.
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