Buprestis aurulenta
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
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 |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Golden Buprestid Beetle sighting in Olympic National Park on a given day, based on 17 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 72nd most-seen of the 207 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.
March and June–September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Golden Buprestid Beetle in Olympic National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April–May and October–February, the lowest months. Those are among Olympic National Park's driest months, with about 100 mm of rain a month against 370 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.
Among the best
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Golden Buprestid Beetle sightings, Olympic National Park ranks 4th at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Great Bear Rainforest (Canada, about 10%), Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (United States, about 10%) and Yosemite National Park (United States, about 10%).
Same order: Coleoptera
The closest relatives of the Golden Buprestid Beetle that you can see in Olympic National Park (order Coleoptera, Beetles) are Narrow-Collared Snail-Eating Beetle (about 20%), White-Spotted Sawyer (about 10%) and Red Net-Winged Beetle (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Golden Buprestid Beetle is recorded against all the insects logged in Olympic 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.
