Christmas Beetles May Soon be Declared a Threatened Species

Ask anyone who was alive during the early 2000s and before about Christmas Beetles, and you’ll hear stories about their prevalence and beauty. Yet in recent years, anecdotal evidence suggests that Christmas Beetles are in decline.

Invertebrates Australia, in collaboration with the University of Sydney have put together the Christmas Beetle Count, which is now in it’s third year. Using iNaturalist, this citizen science initiative has now hit 20,000 observations, which provides researchers with valuable data to better understand Christmas Beetle population size and spread.

We caught up with Dr Tanya Latty for our annual update on the Christmas Beetle Count – and while there are a number of positives, it’s looking like a threatened species application may be in the future for the Christmas Beetle. This doesn’t mean it’s the end for this beloved bug though – a threatened species listing means that there may be more funding available for research and conservation.

Dr Latty is an optimist. She believes that there is a strong possibility that Christmas Beetle populations can bounce back.

“What keeps me going is that there’s always hope for recovery because we can do things and see that recovery in our lifetimes.”

“There are species that have left a threatened species list largely because people have cared enough and committed enough to their conservation that they’re okay now, or at least they’re doing much better now than they were before. And so my hope is that that’s the case for Christmas beetles.”

“My daughter might not have gotten to experience millions of Christmas beetles at Christmas and playing with them, but maybe her kids can.”