Insects and Spiders - native

Golden Buprestid Beetle (Buprestis aurulenta) on Jul 26, 2022

Submitter does not have a specimen

Description of specimen

Iridescent blue green beetle with pointed carapace (?) crawling along deck railing. I didn't see it fly, or get a view of the body beneath the wings. It was a very beautiful, continuously colored beetle, unlike any seen in Oregon. It was much more slender and longer than Japanese beetles I've seen on east coast, and brought scarab beetles to mind.

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
July 26, 2022, 4:49 a.m.

Resources

Golden Buprestid Beetle information from iNaturalist

Location

It was crawling along a friend's deck. It looked blueish in the shade, which threw me off. My friend doesn't have ash trees, but lots of other deciduous trees and a few Douglas Firs.
I saw it Tuesday last week. There was only 1 visible.

Expert Reviewer

Tom Valente
Oregon Department of Agriculture

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