Insects and Spiders - native

Golden Buprestid Beetle (Buprestis aurulenta) on Apr 14, 2024

Originally reported as Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis)

Submitter has sample

Description of specimen

Beetle, 1/2 long. Metallic green caprice, copper red underside.

Commentary

Thank you for your report! This is not EAB. It's a native member of the Metallic Wood-boring beetle family, the Golden Buprestid, Buprestis aurulenta. These beetles are larger and less slender than EAB. They are not tree killers. Their grubs live in dead conifers.

There are a number of iridescent green look-alike beetles in Oregon that are not pests. I am attaching a link to the ODA EAB webpage with some photos of other Oregon insects that could be mistaken for EAB

https://www.oregon.gov/oda/programs/IPPM/SurveyTreatment/Documents/EABLookAlikes.pdf

Thanks for being on the lookout!

Tom Valente
April 15, 2024, 6:57 a.m.

Resources

Golden Buprestid Beetle information from iNaturalist

Location

Found it inside our house. I was washing dishes Sunday evening (4/14/2024, around 9:00 pm) when I noticed a beetle on its back on the drainboard. It was alive - I identified as an emerald ash borer and captured it in a plastic jar. Note that I had been working outside in my garden (spreading bark mulch) for an hour or two earlier that day. Maybe it hitched a ride on my clothes? Note also there are two groves of ash trees on the adjacent common property.

Expert Reviewer

Tom Valente
Oregon Department of Agriculture

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