Australian Tortoise Beetle

Australian Tortoise Beetle

Trachymela sloanei

Daily sighting probability ~20% · Possible
at Channel Islands National Park

In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%

44 Verified sightings at Channel Islands National Park From 2019 to 2026
44 In 1 park
July Best month
🌅 Crepuscular When it's spotted

About the Australian Tortoise Beetle

Trachymela sloanei, known generally as the Australian tortoise beetle or small eucalyptus tortoise beetle, is a species of leaf beetle in the family Chrysomelidae. The species is native to Australia, where it lives on Eucalyptus trees. It is an invasive pest in California, and was recently established in Shenzhen (China), Chile, Spain, Portugal and Greece. Wikipedia →

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Channel Islands National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~20%

More parks will be added in future updates.

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Toluca 🇲🇽 México
~10%
2 Mexico City 🇲🇽 México
~10%
3 Madrid 🇪🇸 Spain
~10%
4 San Francisco 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
5 Auckland 🇳🇿 New Zealand
<5%
6 Los Angeles 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
7 Hong Kong 🇨🇳 China
<5%
8 Lisbon 🇵🇹 Portugal
<5%
9 Sacramento 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
10 San Diego 🇺🇸 United States
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing an Australian Tortoise Beetle in Channel Islands National Park?

Possible

About 20% of wildlife watchers report an Australian Tortoise Beetle sighting in Channel Islands National Park on a given day, based on 44 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 19th most-seen of the 131 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see an Australian Tortoise Beetle in Channel Islands National Park?

July

In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report an Australian Tortoise Beetle in Channel Islands National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February, October and December, the lowest months. That is one of Channel Islands National Park's driest months, with almost no rain against 60 mm in January.

What time of day is best to see an Australian Tortoise Beetle?

Between 7 and 10 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Australian Tortoise Beetle sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.

Where else can you see an Australian Tortoise Beetle?

Only Channel Islands National Park, in our data

Channel Islands National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Australian Tortoise Beetle sightings: about 20% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.

Where does the Australian Tortoise Beetle sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Australian Tortoise Beetle is recorded against all the insects logged in Channel Islands National Park (44 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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