Robert's Ramblings

Every Christmas for as long as I can remember we get visited by one or more Christmas beetles,Anoplognathus pallidicollis.

Actually there are many species of Christmas beetles in the genus Anoplognathus, part of the scarab family, but as far as I know they are all native to Australia.

It usually begins with a knocking at the door or at the window. We open the door and look but there's no one there; neighborhood kids having fun perhaps? Then it starts again, the knocking at the window or door. Again we open the door to see who is there. No one. A third time the knocking starts up again, we open the door and this large buzzing beetle comes flying through the opening and straight for the lights where it continues to knock itself silly banging into lights, walls or us. Eventually it settles down for a bit of a crawl before launching into its clumsy aerial display again.

We usually put up with the noise and carry on for a short while before our Christmas visitor is escorted from the building back out into the night to entertain some other neighbor.


Photo: Robert Rath, '366 Days of 2012, Day 349 - Christmas Visitor'. 0.6s f/13 ISO1250 200mm macro