Subfamily Cetoniinae - Flower Beetles
- Beetles in this subfamily are some what flattened, some are metallic in colour. They active during the day, most are seen feeding on flowers. Adults' mouth-parts are modified for nectar feeding. They are active flyer, can fly rapidly by spreading their wings without raising the elytra.
- Larvae live in soil or dead tree trunk. They feed on rotten wood or decaying plant materials.
Family Scarabaeidae
This page contains information and pictures about Flower Beetles Subfamily Cetoniinae that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.
- Cowboy Beetle
- Chondropyga dorsalis, (Diaphonia dorsalis), Schizorhinini, body length 25mm
- This beetle is commonly seen flying around very fast during day time in shrubs early summer in Brisbane. It is yellowish-brown in colour with a black stripe on the middle. Its body is relatively flatten. The beetle feeds on nectar. Please check this page for more information.
- Reddish-brown Flower Beetle
- Aphanestes gymnopleura, body length 20mm
- The beetle is reddish-brown in colour. On Nov 2009 in Anstead Forest, we found this beetle sitting on the tip of a dry stem. It was a male. It opened it antenna seemed waiting for something. We believed the beetle was detecting the smell of a female. Check this page for more information.
- Fiddle Beetle
- Eupoecila australasiae, Schizorhinini, body length 18mm
- The beetle is dark brown in colour with violin-shaped bright green pattern and this give its common name. The beetle was found feeding on gum tree flower nectar on early summer. More pictures and information can be found in this page.
- Spotted Flower Chafer
- Neorrhina punctatum (punctata), (Polystigma punctatum), body length 20mm
- This beetle was once called Polystigma punctatum. We took this picture when the beetle rest on the Hibiscus leaf in our backyard in early summer. The beetle is pale brown in colour with many large black dots on its thorax and wing covers. We have more pictures and information in this page.
- Brown Flower Beetle
- Glycyphana stolata, Cetoniini, body length 15mm
- This beetle is feeding on nectar in gum tree flowers. Above pictures were taken in October, late spring or early summer in Brisbane. More information and pictures can be found in this page.
- Mango Flower Beetle, Mottled Flower Scarab
- Protaetia fusca, Cetoniini, body length 11mm
- This beetle length 11mm, with some white dots on black wing covers. We found them on early summer. For more information please click on here.
- Reference:
- 1. Insects of Australia, CSIRO, Division of Entomology, Melbourne University Press, 2nd Edition 1991, p 627.
- 2. Insects of Australia and New Zealand - R. J. Tillyard, Angus & Robertson, Ltd, Sydney, 1926, p228.
- 3. Beetles of Australia - Trevor J Hawkeswood, Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1987, p31.
- 4. Cetoniinae - Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, 2002.
- 5. A Guide to the Beetles of Australia - George Hangay and Paul Zborowski, CSIRO PUBLISHING April 2010, p100.
