#castiarina

[herpsandbirds]

Jewel Beetle (Castiarina amabilis), family Buprestidae, Perth, Australia

photograph by Joshua Gan

[drhoz]

#3069 - Castiarina mansueta

Photo by Bob Goodale

Another jewel beetle, endemic to the WA Wheatbelt.

Great Southern BioBlitz 20024, Wongan Hills - Dingo Rock

[drhoz]

#3068 - Complex Castiarina crocicolor

One of a complex of very similar Jewel Beetles found in SW Western Australia. As with other jewel beetles, the larvae are woodborers.

Great Southern BioBlitz 2024, Wongan Hills - Wongan Hills Wildflower Walk.

[drhoz]

#650 - Castiarina anchoralis - Anchor Jewel Beetle

And back to the beetles, just in time for another sort-of-landmark post. And by a happy coincidence, I've got another jewel beetle for the occasion :)

Feeding on Leptospermum,which is the only plant it's been recorded feeding on. It's not known which plant the larvae bore into, but Astartea scoparia has been suggested.

Baldivis, Perth

[drhoz]

Castiarina placida on a Melaleuca? I don't know which Melaleuca though, which is unfortunate since the only records for C. placida's foodplants are on  Nuytsia floribunda.

Munster, Perth.

Any of my readers recognise the plant?

[drhoz]

Castiarina rufipennis - Red-winged Castiarina Jewel Beetle - a lycid-mimic

Baldivis, Perth

[alicepouliou1]

Buprestidae by ron_n_beth on Flickr.

[drhoz]

#377 - Reddish-winged Castiarina

Another Castiarina, enjoying the Nuytsia. This one is C. rufipennis, although there's a very similar species with parallel sides called paralellipennis, but it's more on an inland species, I'm told

Lots of Castiarinas use orange and black, but only a few use such a simple design, as far as I know. By using this design, both rufipennis and parallelipennis do a very good job of pretending to be a Lycid beetle, complete with serrated if undersized antennae, and a glimpse of fake black wings "beneath" the elytra.

Baldivis, Perth