Subject: Jewel beatle?
Geographic location of the bug: Mornington Penninsula Vic Australia
Date: 02/24/2020
Time: 08:41 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman: Hi Bug Man,l found this beetle on my deck. ls it a common beatle. l have lived in Rosebud Vic Australia for 25 years and an avid gardener. l have not seen it before.
How you want your letter signed: Thank you regards Kerri
Dear Kerri,
This is indeed a Jewel Beetle or Metallic Borer Beetle in the family Buprestidae, and we believe we have correctly identified it as a Variable Jewel Beetle, Temognatha variabilis, thanks to images on the Brisbane Insect site. It is also pictured on Atlas of Living Australia.
Correction: May 29, 2020
Thanks to comments from Allen Sundholm and Kimberi Pullen, we are revising our prior identification in lieu of this being Temognatha sanguinipennis.
This is Temognatha sanguinipennis, not T. variabilis. The latter does not occur close to Melbourne, being limited to the eastern parts of New South Wales, and south-eastern Queensland.
Thanks for this correction.
Though a tad similar to Temognatha variabilis, this is actually Temognatha sanguinipennis, and is rather uncommon these days.
Thanks again for the corrections.