Cycling along #merriCreek
#Art #illustration #Mural
by #FatherMarker

First Christmas Beetle - Lamprima aurata - of the season. This one is reddish gold in the sunlight but when moved to the shade it looks green. Last year I mainly saw pink ones.

Four more insects from putting a #LepiLED UV light out at Wilpena Pound in the Ikara-Flinders National Park, South Australia, 8 December 2023:

#Shieldbug Coleotichus costatus
#Grasshopper Pardillana limbata
#Antlion Heoclisus fundata
#ChristmasBeetle Anoplognathus narmarus

Please upload your photos of Christmas Beetles to #iNaturalist

“If Christmas beetles have declined and we’ve noticed, how many things have declined and we haven’t noticed?” Assoc Prof Tanya Latty, USydney.

In collaboration with Invertebrates Australia, researchers are encouraging the public to #photograph Christmas beetles and upload the images to the iNaturalist app or website. https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/christmas-beetle-count
#CitizenScience #ChristmasBeetle #Summer #Environment #Australia #Photography

“That’s a huge worry. If Christmas beetles have declined and we’ve noticed, how many things have declined and we haven’t noticed?” #australia #christmasbeetle #biodiversity https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/dec/19/a-huge-worry-christmas-beetle-decline-spurs-calls-for-citizen-sightings