1 Darkling beetle at Gungahlin, ACT
Identification history
| Hemicyclus punctulatus | 8 Dec 2025 | KimberiRP | ||
| Chalcopteroides cupripennis | 7 Dec 2025 | MichaelMulvaney | ||
| Unverified | 30 Nov 2025 | chriselidie |
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4 comments
chriselidie
wrote:
7 Dec 2025
I'm not quite convinced that this is C. cupripennis as the beetle that I saw looked rounder and doesn't have a regular linear 'dot' pattern. The dots are distributed randomly over the back. But I'm far from an expert on this, maybe the pattern can vary quite a bit?
KimberiRP
wrote:
8 Dec 2025
Not a Chalcopteroides, but the much rarer Hemicyclus punctulatus. Although the colours are similar, it can be distinguished from Chalcopteroides by the narrow flanges on the sides of the elytra and wider flanges on the sides of the pronotum. Other differences that "chriselidie" noticed are the more widely rounded shape (hence the 'cyclus' part of the name), and the lack of striae (lengthwise grooves) on the elytra.
chriselidie
wrote:
8 Dec 2025
Yes, this one looks exactly like the one I saw. This was in an area where there also were some Chalcopteroides columbinus - almost didn't notice they were different beetles at first as the colour is so similar
Location information
- Coordinates 149.138572-35.191020
- Maps Mulanggari Grasslands
- Places Gungahlin, ACT
Sighting information
- At least 1 Abundance
- 28 Nov 2025 06:12 PM Recorded on
- chriselidie Recorded by
-
Collections
chriselidie NatureMapr Canberra & Southern Tablelands Hemicyclus punctulatus Darkling beetles (Tenebrionidae) Beetles (Coleoptera) Insects
Additional information
- Eucalyptus bark Associated plant
- 25mm to 50mm Animal size
Species information
- Hemicyclus punctulatus Scientific name
- Darkling beetle Common name
- Not Sensitive
- Rare or uncommon native
- Non-invasive or negligible
- Up to 775m Recorded at altitude
- External link More information
Record quality
- Images or audio
- More than one media file
- Verified by an expert moderator
- Nearby sighting(s) of same species
- GPS evidence of location
- Description
- Additional attributes