Melobasis splendida
5 a Jewel beetle at Captains Flat, NSW
Identify this sighting
| Melobasis splendida | MarkH | 19 Jan 2024 | |
| Melobasis sp. (genus) | entom2 | 19 Jan 2024 | |
| Unverified | Csteele4 | 19 Jan 2024 |
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User's notes
Landed on my thumb as I was photographing another beetle! Black cross-like markings on back.
7 comments
19 Jan 2024
Nice find, or perhaps more accurately, nice of the beetle to find you. Only the second sighting on CNM of this jewel beetle.
19 Jan 2024
@MatthewFrawley I certainly feel very honoured! It was a very pretty little beetle.
19 Jan 2024
You are in rare company, the only other sighting is from the local jewel beetle master.
19 Jan 2024
It’s a common and widely distributed species on the east coast and adjacent hinterlands. But, it is very cryptic and difficult to find and is generally just on leaves of things like eucalypts and acacias, most of which are well above the site line of the average person.
19 Jan 2024
@MarkH this one must have been on its way somewhere. I was watching a beetle in a Bursaria when it landed on me. My first instinct was to flick it off - glad I didn't!
Location information
- Coordinates 149.458212-35.577254
- Altitude 429.5m
- Places Captains Flat, NSW
Sighting information
- 1 Abundance
- 19 Jan 2024 01:22 PM Recorded on
- Csteele4 Recorded by
- Alive / healthy Animal health
- 12mm to 25mm Animal size
- No Insect on a flower
Collections
- Csteele4 NatureMapr Canberra & Southern Tablelands Jewel beetles (Buprestidae) Beetles (Coleoptera) Insects Melobasis splendida
Species information
- Melobasis splendida Scientific name
- a Jewel beetle Common name
- Not Sensitive
- Local native
- Non-invasive or negligible
- Up to 667.7m Recorded at altitude
- External link More information
Record quality
Quality score
6 / 7
- Images or audio
- More than one media file
- Verified by an expert moderator
- GPS evidence of location
- Description
- Additional attributes
- Nearby sighting(s) of same species