Trip Leader – James Thompson
Twelve enthusiastic beetle hunters converged on some manuka bushes in flower to chase manuka chafer beetles on the Lyndon road on 10th January, 2026.
The weather was fine, but a bit DRAFTY; finding a calmish suitable spot so that holding the specimens, cameras, and staying upright was not quite so challenging. Fortunately the beetles were quite accommodating and stayed fairly still, although many were engrossed to mating at the time. As it got warm some beetles started to fly, making photographing them a little more difficult. The manuka was in full flower, but at the time that we were there, there were few other insects flying.
The manuka chafer beetles (Pyronota festiva), are similar to the NZ grass grub, in as much they are annual or biennial, laying eggs in the soil in autumn and then wintering over as small white grubs, pupating in the spring, and then emerging about Christmas. They normally prefer manuka roots to winter over, but can cause damage to pastures close to areas of manuka. The beetles are almost a luminous green, which fly fishers copy with some of their flies, although we did manage to find one with red colouring, mating with a green one!
Trip report: Ken Muscroft-Taylor
