Emerald Tip Beetle

Emerald Tip Beetle

Anoplognathus brunnipennis

Endemic
Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Blue Mountains National Park

In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%

17 Verified sightings at Blue Mountains National Park From 2019 to 2026
17 In 1 park
December Best month
☀️🌙 Day & Night When it's spotted

About the Emerald Tip Beetle

Anoplognathus brunnipennis, commonly known as the brown- or golden-brown Christmas beetle, is a beetle of the family Scarabaeidae native to eastern Australia, being common in coastal Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, the Great Dividing Range and the Murray-Darling river basin.

Belgian naturalist Auguste Drapiez described the species in 1819 as Rutela chloropyra, reporting that it was found in summer in Australia. French naturalist Jean Baptiste Boisduval described Anoplognathus nitidulus in 1835. The latter name was recognized as the same species as the former and hence made a synonym by William John Macleay in 1873. The species name was misspelt chloropygus by Ohaus in a 1918 catalogue and picked up by many authors. A 2021 review indicated that the species was misidentified as Anoplognathus chloropygus, and thus made a synonym of Anoplognathus brunnipennis.

As its name suggests, the golden-brown Christmas beetle is a yellow- or biscuit-brown with a green or gold-red sheen. The abdomen and thorax are green with white hairs. The adult male is 19–23 mm long, while the female is 21–26 mm long.

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Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Blue Mountains National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
~10%

More parks will be added in future updates.

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Sydney 🇦🇺 Australia
<5%

Closest Relatives at Blue Mountains National Park

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing an Emerald Tip Beetle in Blue Mountains National Park?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Emerald Tip Beetle sighting in Blue Mountains National Park on a given day, based on 17 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 272nd most-seen of the 789 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see an Emerald Tip Beetle in Blue Mountains National Park?

December

In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report an Emerald Tip Beetle in Blue Mountains National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February to October, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see an Emerald Tip Beetle?

Between 1 and 4 pm

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Emerald Tip Beetle sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.

Where else can you see an Emerald Tip Beetle?

Only Blue Mountains National Park, in our data

Blue Mountains National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Emerald Tip Beetle sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.

Which relatives of the Emerald Tip Beetle live in Blue Mountains National Park?

Same genus: Anoplognathus

The closest relatives of the Emerald Tip Beetle that you can see in Blue Mountains National Park (genus Anoplognathus, Christmas Beetles) are Anoplognathus viriditarsis (about 10%), Washerwoman (about 10%) and Brown-Winged Christmas Beetle (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Emerald Tip Beetle sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Emerald Tip Beetle is recorded against all the insects logged in Blue Mountains National Park (17 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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