Beetles herald Christmas

Christmas beetle.

THE festive season has brought a colourful visitor to parts of Rockhampton.

Big, brightly coloured Christmas beetles are a common sight when the festive season starts, and get their name for being fertile in the lead-up to Christmas.

Christmas beetles are nocturnal and usually emerge at night, attracted by outdoor lighting.

The harmless beetles can grow up to 20mm in length and vary in colour from dark to light brown and iridescent green.

Christmas beetles emerge in summer evenings where they fly up to several kilometres in search of their preferred food source of eucalyptus leaves.

Amalgamated Pest Control principal entomologist Gary Cochrane said favourable weather at this time of year brought the influx of Christmas beetles.

“Christmas beetles are most abundant during mid summer, although they can be evident from November to February,” Gary said.

There are 34 species of Christmas beetle throughout Australia and they mostly populate higher rainfall areas of the southern and eastern states.

Gary said Christmas beetles were not considered a pest, but a friendly reminder from the insect world that Christmas is coming.