Unknown Insects
February 15, 2010
Please can you help me identify these insects, found in the garden during the summer months.
Chris Moran
Perth, WA, Australia
Hi Chris,
Submitting multiple images of unrelated insects negatively compromises our method for archiving letters, so we are not posting all of your images in the same response. This is a Jewel Beetle or Metallic Borer Beetle in the family Buprestidae, and we believe it is in the genus Castiarina based on an image of Castiarina decemmaculata posted on the Brisbane Insect website. Your specimen looks very similar, but it doesn’t seem to be an exact match. The Virtual Beetles website has numerous similar examples from the genus Castiarina, but we are not skilled enough to provide a definitive identification based on your photograph. The Buprestidae of Australia website contains a thumbnail image of Castiarina malleeana that also is a possibility, but an image posted on Outdoor Webshots shows the spots converging, which may be an individual variation. The red coloration on the spots of your specimen seem to be a distinction that might help to properly identify this species.
This is a nice shot of Diadoxus regia (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), previously known as Diadoxus scalaris. There is much published information on this and its related species, Diadoxus erythrurus. Please search under Diadoxus at my website http://www.calodema.com for relevant research papers and illustrations.
Best regards, Trevor
This is actually Diadoxus erythrurus.
Thanks for this correction. We are currently catching up on unapproved comments.