Castiarina testacea at suppressed

2 A eucalyptus bud mimic jewel beetle at suppressed

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Identification history

	Castiarina testacea	4 Jan 2021	MichaelMulvaney
	Castiarina testacea	4 Jan 2021	Harrisi

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Author's notes

Big thanks and kudos to Luke 'Natureguy' Downey who found the first CNM record of this sp. whilst on a bike ride the other day and noticing some profusely flowering Bursaria. I followed Luke's hot tip up soon after and was thrilled to see this most interesting jewel beetle. It is a eucalyptus bud mimic, ie, when it is head down-bum up feeding in euc flowers, its abdomen looks like a unopened euc bud, reducing the risk of predation. The Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) has the last and only records for the ACT being 1955 ! This season is really seeing some amazing diversity in the jewel beetles that are emerging following well timed rains throughout 2020. There was some positives in the annus horribilis after all :)

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Species information

Not Sensitive
Rare or uncommon Native
Non-Invasive

Sighting information

1 - 3 Abundance
3 Jan 2021 11:54 PM Recorded on
Harrisi Recorded by

Additional information

Bursaria sp. Associated plant
5mm to 12mm Animal size

Record quality

Images or audio
More than one media file
Confirmed by an expert moderator
Nearby sighting(s) of same species
GPS evidence of location
Description
Additional attributes