Hoplia argentea
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Hoplia argentea, the Mountain monkey beetle is a species of scarabaeid beetle belonging to the subfamily Melolonthinae. Adults are quite colourful. These flower-loving scarabs, quite common in the mountains, are present in most of Europe (Albania, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland).
These beetles inhabit open landscapes, parks, mixed forests, gardens, forest edges and meadows. The adults of Hoplia argentea grow up to 9–12 millimetres (0.35–0.47 in) long. It is a very variable chromatic species. The body of these medium-sized flower-loving scarabs is covered with pale green, bluish-green or yellow ocher scales. The scales produce interference colors (as with butterflies). Old specimens lose most of the scales, changing their color from green to brown. Like other species of the genus Hoplia, it has fairly long hind legs terminated by a single nail. The legs in males are black with longer hind legs, while in the female they are reddish and the body colour is usually brown.
Adults can... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hohe Tauern National Park | 🇦🇹 Austria | |
| 2 | Mercantour National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | Ecrins National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 4 | Triglav National Park | 🇸🇮 Slovenia | |
| 5 | Vanoise National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 6 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 7 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Munich | 🇩🇪 Germany |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Mountain Monkey Beetle sighting in Cévennes National Park on a given day, based on 32 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 345th most-seen of the 996 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.
May
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Mountain Monkey Beetle in Cévennes National Park on a given day, against under 5% in July to April, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Mountain Monkey Beetle sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 7 parks where we can rate Mountain Monkey Beetle sightings, Cévennes National Park ranks 6th at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Hohe Tauern National Park (Austria, about 10%), Mercantour National Park (France, about 10%) and Ecrins National Park (France, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Mountain Monkey Beetle is recorded against all the insects logged in Cévennes National Park (32 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.
