Insects and Spiders - native

Golden Buprestid Beetle (Buprestis aurulenta) on Apr 7, 2026

Originally reported as Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis)

Submitter does not have a specimen

Description of specimen

The insect in question, as can be seen in the photo dismembered on the wood flooring, was elongated with a dark coppery body and a bright, wide emerald-green stripe along the length of its wings and a bit of the same green hue on its back and head. Based on your EAB Oregon Look-alikes chart, it resembled the Emerald Ash Borer beetle.

Commentary

Avatar of commenter 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.

These beetles often enter houses in firewood. They are not known to attack structural timbers, but sometimes adults emerge from furniture that has been made from untreated wood.

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

Tom Valente
April 8, 2026, 7:51 a.m.

Resources

Golden Buprestid Beetle information from iNaturalist

Location

On March 19, 2026, at 3:30 in the morning, I discovered what may have been an Emerald Ash Borer beetle standing on its hind legs and waving its forelegs, as if to appear threatening. What is so odd about this discovery is that the insect was found, not in nature, but on the carpet of the upstairs alcove of our house! We do not have any ash trees on our property, and our wood is both felled on our land and sourced locally from other sites. This marks the very first time that such a bug has been seen here in thirty or so years of residence. Needless to say, it did not live long in our home, as is shown in the photo provided.

Expert Reviewer

Avatar of Reviewer

Tom Valente
Oregon Department of Agriculture

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