Insects and Spiders - native

Golden Buprestid Beetle (Buprestis aurulenta) on May 12, 2024

Submitter does not have a specimen

Description of specimen

I found the remains of this unusual metallic bug/beetle on my laundry room floor. I did not ever see it as a live specimen. I thought it resembled an invasive insect I saw in some article about plants and insects that invasive in some other state. Which brought me to looking for the same here in Oregon where I live.

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
May 14, 2024, 1:51 a.m.

Resources

Golden Buprestid Beetle information from iNaturalist

Location

A rural residence situated in a grass valley with Chilcote Creek bordering the SE edge of the property (about 100 yards from the residence). There is a maple, alder and fir forested hillside about 40 ft from NW side of the house which continues up the hillside -- too steep for any maintenance except for periodic blackberry removal (or spraying) along the grass driveway up behind the house to a utility shed.

Expert Reviewer

Tom Valente
Oregon Department of Agriculture

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