Hoplia argentea
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
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 Triglav National Park on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 188th most-seen of the 260 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Mountain Monkey Beetle in Triglav National Park on a given day, against under 5% in September 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, Triglav National Park ranks 4th 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%).
Same family: Scarabaeidae
The closest relatives of the Mountain Monkey Beetle that you can see in Triglav National Park (family Scarabaeidae, Scarabs) are European Rose Chafer (about 40%), Eurasian Bee Beetle (about 30%) and Mediterranean Spotted Chafer (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Mountain Monkey Beetle is recorded against all the insects logged in Triglav National Park (7 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.
