Key to the Christmas Beetles of New South Wales

This key enables the user to identify to species level the adult male and female Christmas Beetles (genus Anoplognathus) occurring in New South Wales. Anoplognathus is a genus of the Rutelinae, a subfamily of the family Scarabaeidae, which includes Dung Beetles, Flower Chafers, Rhinoceros Beetles and Christmas Beetles.

This key was created by Chris Reid and Kindi Smith, of the Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Research, Australian Museum, Sydney. The illustrations and key construction are by Kindi Smith with the descriptions and taxonomic decisions by Chris Reid.

The key has been constructed from examination of preserved specimens held at the Australian Museum or loaned from other institutions, and from the revisions of Anoplognathus by Carne (1957, 1958, 1981). The choice of species is based on locality information taken from the Zoological Catalogue for Australian Rutelinae (Cassis and Weir, 1992), literature records, advice from colleagues and specimen data held by the Australian Museum.

Any questions, comments or suggestions on the keys are welcome – contact Paul Flemons, Manager, Collections Informatics Unit.

Australian Museum

Key Author(s): Chris Reid and Kindi Smith Key Publisher: Australian Museum Key Version: 1.0