Temognatha limbata
2 Limbata jewel beetle at Bungendore, NSW
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| Temognatha limbata | MarkH | 24 Jan 2026 | |
| Temognatha affinis | clarehoneydove | 24 Jan 2026 |
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2 comments
24 Jan 2026
This is an interesting colour pattern. At first glance it looks almost identical to T. limbata albeit with red sides to the pronotum rather than yellow. In addition the elytral apices seem smooth rather than having the small spine which is typical of T. affinis.
I have an affinis in my collection that has a similar vertebral stripe, albeit not quite as well defined as this specimen.
Ideally the specimen should be collected and lodged with the Australian National Insect Collection as it’s quite a unique pattern.
Because colours may be variable over different geographic areas I’m going with the lack of spine on the elytra as the determining characteristic and will call it T. limbata however having the specimen in hand could change that ID back to T. affinis.
I have an affinis in my collection that has a similar vertebral stripe, albeit not quite as well defined as this specimen.
Ideally the specimen should be collected and lodged with the Australian National Insect Collection as it’s quite a unique pattern.
Because colours may be variable over different geographic areas I’m going with the lack of spine on the elytra as the determining characteristic and will call it T. limbata however having the specimen in hand could change that ID back to T. affinis.
25 Jan 2026
Definitely not Temognatha affinis, this is the 'red-on-lateral-margins-of-pronotum-mountain-country' form of Temognatha limbata. I have seen the same in the Blue Mountains (Kings Tableland). Nevertheless all 'forms' need to have their DNA analysed 'just in case' a cryptic species is hiding under an assumed name. I sometimes wonder about the 'forms' of Temognatha variabilis from far N.E. of NSW & S.E. QLD where the testaceous yellow lateral margins are typically much wider than in specimens of this species from further south, such as this one: https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/observations/335689326 Cheers, Allen M. Sundholm
Location information
- Places Bungendore, NSW
Sighting information
- 1 Abundance
- clarehoneydove Recorded by
- 12mm to 25mm Animal size
Collections
- clarehoneydove NatureMapr Canberra & Southern Tablelands Temognatha limbata Jewel beetles (Buprestidae) Beetles (Coleoptera) Insects
Species information
- Temognatha limbata Scientific name
- Limbata jewel beetle Common name
- Not Sensitive
- Rare or uncommon native
- Non-invasive or negligible
- Up to 811.59m Recorded at altitude
Record quality
Quality score
5 / 7
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- Nearby sighting(s) of same species
- Description