Buprestis aurulenta
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Buprestis aurulenta, commonly known as the golden jewel beetle or golden buprestid, is a species of beetle in the genus Buprestis. The larvae of Buprestis aurulenta live inside a variety of coniferous trees and can survive for long periods in dry wood. The adult beetle is an iridescent green, with shining orange trim all around the wing covers.
The beetles are found in the Pacific Northwest as far north as southern British Columbia and southward through the Rocky Mountains to Mexico. They are rare in Alberta, and specimens have been collected in Manitoba. On May 27, 1983, a golden jewel beetle emerged from a staircase in Essex, UK, after at least 47 years as a larva. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Great Bear Rainforest | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 2 | Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Yosemite National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Olympic National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Grand Teton National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Yellowstone National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portland | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Seattle | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Vancouver | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 4 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Golden Buprestid Beetle sighting in Seattle on a given day, based on 37 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 129th most-seen of the 428 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April and June–July
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Golden Buprestid Beetle in Seattle on a given day, against under 5% in May and August–March, the lowest months. Those are among Seattle's driest months, with about 55 mm of rain a month against 190 mm in November.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Golden Buprestid Beetle sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 4
Of the 4 cities where we can rate Golden Buprestid Beetle sightings, Seattle ranks 2nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Portland (United States, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Golden Buprestid Beetle is recorded against all the insects logged in Seattle (37 verified sightings), 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.
