Insects and Spiders - native

Golden Buprestid Beetle (Buprestis aurulenta) on Jul 9, 2025

Originally reported as Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis)

Submitter has sample

Description of specimen

He had a stubby head and long shelled wings. Maybe about the size of a dime. Everything about him was shiny and green/iridescent. The body was unfortunately crushed trying to pull it off the adhesive, but I kept and still have one of the wing shells.

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 ODF EAB webpage with some photos of other Oregon insects that could be mistaken for EAB

https://oregon-eab-geo.hub.arcgis.com/pages/identify

Thanks for being on the lookout!

Tom Valente
July 10, 2025, 7:21 a.m.

Resources

Golden Buprestid Beetle information from iNaturalist

Location

The beetle was caught on the sticky adhesive on my window. We live in rural Estacada, in the George area by the fish hatchery. He was dead by the time I found him, but was identical to the photos I saw on the news.

Expert Reviewer

Tom Valente
Oregon Department of Agriculture

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