Insects and Spiders - native

Golden Buprestid Beetle (Buprestis aurulenta) on Jul 1, 2023

Submitter has sample

Description of specimen

Metallic green beetle about 3/4" long with gold on the sides. Looking online it is shaped like an emerald ash borer but didnt find any images with the gold on the sides.

Commentary

Thank you for your report! This is probably 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 3, 2023, 9:35 a.m.

Resources

Golden Buprestid Beetle information from iNaturalist

Location

Ash swale located on the NW corner of the intersection of hwy226 and Richardson Gap Rd in Scio OR

Expert Reviewer

Tom Valente
Oregon Department of Agriculture

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