Will Kiama see Christmas Beetles or even Bogong moths this year?

Like Bogong moths, which used to swarm across the South Coast and are now also in decline, one of the features of an Australian Christmas was the sighting of swarms of Christmas beetles everywhere.

Professor Tim Flannery of the Climate Council stated in September of this year that Australia’s threatened species laws need an urgent overhaul.

“Just think back to the last time you saw thousands of Bogong moths around your suburb or hundreds of christmas beetles,” Tim said. He also referenced the massive "die off" of Emperor Penguins in Australian Antarctic Territories earlier in the year.

The CSIRO and Invertebrates Australia between November 1 and December 8, 2023 conducted a research grade level of citizen research into Christmas beetle sightings. The 2023 Christmas Christmas beetle count is now over. This is the first year any scientific data has been collected on the numbers of these beetles with over 8,000 sightings submitted to the Christmas Beetle count by over 4,000 people by the close of the study.

The most common sighting is of the washerwoman Christmas beetle. The science suggests that the conditions for the larvae to thrive has been much affected by large scale clearing of native grasses. 

According to the CSIRO the Christmas beetle is a large beetle with iridescent green yellow shell colouring of the genus Anoplognathus. There are 36 beetle species, all scarab beetles, almost all only found in Australia. However sightings can often be easily confused with similar looking beetles, such as the Argentinian Lawn Beetle, which has similar colouring.

Indications are Christmas Beetles will be returning to the south coast this Christmas season. Anecdotal reports suggest an increase in numbers this year, but not like the swarms of the past!

In Kyogle in 2014-15 it was reported that you could fill buckets with Christmas beetles from just one eucalyptus tree!

However the science suggests it will be in reduced numbers compared to some of the swarms of the past. It's quite possible a child under 10 has never seen a Christmas beetle. 

Anecdotal sightings have been made this year on social media in Northern Sydney and the Gold Coast of Christmas Beetles, and even a few sightings along the South Coast.

While climate change and land clearing of grasslands can affect the population of these beetles, generally there is a cycle related to dry springs or drought, with warm wet springs allowing the beetle population to rise quickly when they mature in time for Christmas.

Christmas beetles are regarded as iconic of Australia as much as koalas, kangaroos and platypuses are. 

Another iconic swarming insect usually seen before Christmas and now also sadly in decline are the Bogong Moths. The bogong moth migration is usually in spring but is often delayed til near Christmas.

They are known for their amazing navigation skills, with breeding in vast numbers in South East Australia and then navigating over 1,000 kilometres to the high caves in the Snowy Mountains for the summer.

The bogong moth is the only insect in the world known to migrate from a large region to a very specific location, for their one and only journey.

Professor Warrant said to ABC South East the entire migration is a genetically inherited set of information which is absolutely fascinating.

Anecdotally, and in the writer’s own experience, often the moths would get off course heading to the Snowy Mountains and end up along the South Coast, in swarms of many thousands the bogong moths were seen clustered in one tree along the south coast, with the whole swarm in the billions. 

There is good evidence that Aboriginal populations including the Illawarra from a wide area used to travel to the Snowy Mountains to use the moths as a food source. A find by Monash University of a stone tool with bogong moth remains helps confirm this.

According to Australian researcher Eric Warrant the bogong moth brain is much smaller than a grain of rice, but is capable of amazing feats of navigation using the earth’s magnetic field, their sense of smell and even the stars.

Eric has stated that during the driest and hottest conditions ever recorded in Australia in 2017-19, the bogong moth population crashed dramatically. Professor Warrant said the evidence suggested 99.5% of the population was wiped out in a single year.

You can download the Australian Museum Xmas Beetle guide from the IOS Apple store or the Google Play store.

The National Gallery of Australia in Canberra even has a statue of a giant bogong moth in its sculpture garden.

If you see a Christmas Beetle, especially a swarm of beetles, or a Bogong Moth or even two, around Kiama, send your photos into [email protected]

Photo credit: The National Museum, CSIRO, and Warrant's Bogong Research.