A mating aggregation of Chauliognathus lugubris
The insect news is carrying stories of soldier beetle swarms overrunning Australia:
A local Bondi resident, Sandra Bianchi, said she and her husband first noticed the beetles on Tuesday afternoon.
”We were looking out onto the balcony and then all of a sudden there was a swarm,” Mrs Bianchi said. ”There were millions of them. When they fly they look like little helicopters.”
When the insects returned a day later, they landed on any surface they could find – the balcony, nearby trees, even her husband’s head.
“Huh,” I thought. “That sounds familiar.”
In fact, Mrs. Myrmecos and I had driven into the middle of one such aggregation while travelling through the Australian alps last month. Long strings of acrid, stinking beetles hung off the trees and covered the grass in beetle-y clumps. I took a few photographs, promised myself I’d look up the colorful insects when I got home, and promptly forgot about the whole thing until reading the bug news this morning.
Chauliognathus lugubris, the plague soldier beetle.
Chauliognathus lugubris, the plague soldier beetle, is perhaps misnamed. Although these insects are indeed helicoptering into the Australian suburbs in impressive numbers, gardeners should welcome the swarm. Far from being a damaging plague, soldier beetles are predators of other insects, including a number of herbivorous pest insects. The adults are gathering to mate after several solitary months as ground-dwelling larvae.
Scaling the grass.
A personal blog by Illinois-based biologist and photographer Alex Wild.
A swarm of beetles – sounds like a great day!
BitB heaven!
so they eat eucalyptus bugs? i swear they defolliated my jacaranda.. but maybe they came after something else had a hearty meal. the 10yo said `yeah. we have them at school. they mate a lot. their bottoms r stuck together.’
I live in Gippsland, Victoria and we have been visited by a huge ‘plague’ of these plague soldier beetles. They have covered the gate posts, metal gate and the grass. There are hundreds of them- all mating.
my whole back yard is full of these beetles. we have a huge gum tree which will explain why they are here. every square inch of my lawn is covered, tables, plants, everything including myself if i go outside. I am in Dandenong. Victoria
They are swarming in Port Melbourne, Middle Park at the moment. Funnily it seems to be the tops of buildings. I’m on the 9th floor and they are everywhere, but down lower there are not so many. On other 3 and 4 story building they are also swarmed all over the parapets and balconies. How long will the swarm typically last before dispersing?
its ok, they are on the 3rd floor down here in beach street…….
Currently swarming in Port Melbourrne. We are on the first floor. Our Golden Locust Trees are covered in them. We have never had them before, where did they come from all of a sudden over the last few days?
i live in albury nsw i have a swarm of them in my yard there every where how long do they hang around
I live in Milawa, Victoria and there are millions of them in my garden, I have sprayed many thinking they were harlequin bugs, but I’m still worried that they will stop my roses and other plants from flowering.
I live in Yarrawonga, Victoria, and they are everywhere in our garden-have been around for about 2 weeks now!. Our bottlebrush flowers are covered in them. They are so thick at times that when you walk out in the yard, they hit you in the face. Am hoping they don’t hang around too long!!!
They are in Cobram in mass proportions. Can anyone tell me how long they last? I can only see them in my yard, not the neighbours?
They have been swarming in my backyard for a few days. It’s like a Hitchcock movie. I had a lot of trouble finding them on the net. Thankfully I didn’t take any action before I found out what I was dealing with. I’m at Cooks Hill Newcastle which is inner city for us
Hi Maria. I live at Mayfield West and we have thousands of them in our garden. All over everything. Not sure what to do about them. Will check the net
I am in Jesmond and my garden is completely covered – brick walls – trees, frangipanis – everything – it is q
They are in the 1000,s under my flowering gum in the front yard at ocean grove vic. Clumps and clumps of them in the tree and piled up on the grass under the tree. They’re very much sticking to the one area which is good. They’ve been here a week now. Hope they go soon cos I want to mow the grass and don’t want to mass murder them!
im in bundoora ,and i own bonsia trees and there just starting to cover them .i wasnt to happy at first and not nowing what they would do to my trees .but now i no its not such a bad thing.eat the bad bugs i say.
I live in Thomastown, I have a gigantic wattle tree, and bottle brush tree, the swarm came about 2 weeks ago, they are absolutely everywhere! I feel like I need to shower every time I come back in the house yyyuucckkk!
OMG they cover the front of my house then they are on my white car leaving a trail of yellow please hurry up and leave
We are in Frankston south and have been swarmed by them. Have been here a week now, all over the lawn and our car and now trying to get inside. They seem attracted to the white house. Hurry up and leave PLEASE !!!!
They have been swarming here in Ocean Grove for about a week. When the sun comes out so do they. Now I know that they eat aphids I am happy for them to stay as long as they like. Do they eat pear & cherry slugs too?
Yes. I live in Castlemaine and they attacked me like something from an Alfred Hitchcock move as the other lady said. Hideous. I ran from one swarm into another. Covered in them…..it was Hell.
This morning we were presented with a major swarm in our Beaumaris backyard.
I looked them up, wondering if they’d damage our veggie garden. but all the fruitfly are gone from the compost and the roses are looking totally clear of greenfly.
Does anyone know what eats the soldier beetles? Something must be resistant to their defenses…..
I live in Ocean Grove on the Bellarine Peninsula. This is our second year of these visitors to our garden. It was a real panic when we saw them last year thinking they would devour our garden. The lower vegetation was covered in them. We spent days spraying them with hot soapy water, which killed them off, only to realise they were actually falling from our flowering gum which was way out of reach for us to spray. The worst they did was make the dog sick when he ate them and leave a yellow secretion on the washing, especially the whites…., which was annoying.
Came to this page trying to figure out what all the thousands of dead bugs washed up on the shore might be!
I am pleased they eat the other annyoing things in my garden. They are swarming in the cooler part of the garden under two cotoneasters! Never seen anything like it.
We live in Keilor and the front of our house is covered by them now. They firstly appeared yesterday in small numbers and left in the afternoon. This morning they returned, with thousands more. They lay on top of each other forming big masses. The number is still increasing
Thousands arrived here at Point Lonsdale yesterday and more today. How long do they stay?
Thousands have arrived in our backyard today after the torrental rain finished. We’re in Kilsyth.
1000′s here. but they have orange on the end of their backs. Are they the same? Why are there so many?
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to kill these bugs?? Besides a can of bug spray! As it needs to be on a larger scale!
LOL. Good luck with that – there must be millions of them! They’re not really hurting anything though and they’re a boon in the veggie garden.
We have millions in out backyard under a very old gum tree. Pleased to hear they eat other bugs. They clump in the grass mostly and on our newly established vegetable garden but I havent noticed any missing leaves etc. on the seedlings. Garden pest spray “confidor” didnt do anything to them. Baygon surface spray killed the hundreds of thousands on the fence. They are in the washing and on us when we leave the house. If you shake the tree (if it is small enough), they fall on the ground and you can stomp on them but there are just as many to take their place. We are in Tahmoor NSW (lower southern high lands). I have seen singular ones in the past but NEVER in these numbers.
I’m just near Bargo NSW (same region as Tahmoor) and have millions of these bugs all through the garden, which has lots of flowering natives. Appeared on Sunday, after a unseasonably hot weekend. Have never seen these bugs before in my garden, was actually googling them to find out what they were when I came across this site. Pleased to hear they won’t damage the plants because they are pretty freaky the way they are swarming so thickly over everything!
We are in Black Rock and our house is now covered in them after watching the swarm in the backyard for the last few days.. Does anyone know how long these critters hang around?
I live in Port Melbourne and have hundreds of them on the balconies and windows of my third floor apartment. Today when it is 38 degrees outside I came home to find dozens of them had found a way inside the house through tiny gaps in the windows and sliding doors. Outside was one thing, not looking forward to a summer of sharing my indoors with them. Mortein killed them off pretty quickly but it’s not something I like to spray indoors (and I don’t really want to kill the beetles either). Hope they go away soon…
Sam, do u live in the CVU apartments? I have just got home from work and have the same issue, there were hundreds inside my 3rd floor apartment!! HELP!! Is there a way to permanently get rid of these beetles??
I’m in Port Melbourne too & welcome them every year because they kill off most of the bugs that damage my vegie patch and fruit trees. They are harmless to people and hang around for about a month while they mate.
My SIL’s peach tree in Hampton has disappeared under the swarm but this will guarantee that her fruit remains free of burrowing bugs for now and a good harvest can be expected.
Sadly for the Soldier Beetles we now have less gardens and more apartments, so it’s tougher for them to do their job.
OMG I came home this afternoon to find thousands of these bugs at my front door externally and internally I’ve never seen them until today and it’s awful. I’ve sprayed the ones inside but they are everywhere and coming through the ducted heating vents…argh gross!
You may want to have your air cond. checked out as there should not be space for anything to come through, because flies, moths etc. will make their way through any opening as well
Left the house yesterday and the front wall was covered with them as was a couple of trees. This morning all gone!
We recently had Sir Walter put down and after a couple of days, the bugs turned up. I found out they were “Plague Soldier Beetle” via a “google” search. However, the next day they seemed to disappear, so we were not worried. We have now just returned from a two week holiday and they are EVERYWHERE! I too have used Baygon, but is anybody able to tell me a bug spray they have used successfully to get rid of them? Glad they eat other nasty bugs, but I just want to get rid of them as they are everywhere and it is even a drama hanging out my washing! I live in the Hills District, Sydney. Glad to see other people are experiencing the same problems. Our grass is still green and healthy, so that is one thing!
I am with you Blondie. Also live in the Hills, unfortunately next to “lovely” neighbours, who just don’t care about anyone else in the street. Four HUGE gum trees, including the one on our boundry that is full of pollen at the moment and obviously attracting these Soldier Beetles.They are everywhere. I don’t care if they are harmless and/or useful against other bugs, I just want to get rid of them PRONTO.
So far I see very little concern from anyone, or any remedy against these insects. I don’t care what anyone things of them and all I can say is that they are a REAL PEST !!! Even inside the house now while I am typing this, UGH !! Looks like no-one is willing enough to suggest a way to eradicate this problem. TYPICAL !!
Thanks John! I totally agree with you – especially about the “Pronto” business. I went to Bunnings when the bugs first appeared, and they were quite helpful. Unfortunately they didn’t have a spray for “soldier beetle” as such and what they did have was not compatable with Sir Walter. Anway, today I am off to Woollies to get two cans of Mortein and I am just going to spray each morning until they disappear. My husband mowed the lawn yesterday so we were hoping numbers would have dropped, but they are still there this morning – argh!!!! I love nature, etc and so does my husband, but these beetles are a pest – not cute little beetles like a ladybird or christmas beetle which are lovely to see in the garden. Sorry Jill – I think I’ll have to agree to totally disagree with you! When I first googled the beetles at the beginning of November there were not many posts about people experiencing problems, but a few weeks later it appears that the bugs are out in full force! Good luck!
Hi, I live on bellarine peninsula and we have a plague also. I have found that they have damaged my trees. We are spraying them with soapy water and for the large clumps we are using a bucket of hot soapy water to throw over them. If it weren’t for the destruction of trees I wouldn’t really care. We are unable to enjoy sitting in our lovely front garden at present . We will wont get rid of them all, but I think we are keeping them at bay by spraying.
Put a hose up in to your trees, wait til they drop and get the bucket into them!!!!!! Good luck
Hi Blondie,
I was very interested to read about your plague of soldier beetles. We have also had Sir Walter delivered. As we were laying the grass the beetles flew out and landed on the wall. We now have thousands of them in the front garden. Our lawn is just a sea of beetles, our green wall is almost black and they are clinging to our neighbours plants. We have never seen them before and i have to say that like you we just want them gone! I have been to Flower Power and i was told all about them but they are in their thousands and there is no sign of them leaving any time soon. How did you get on with yours? I also live in the Hills area.
I also had them inside on Thursday (39 degrees) and live in Port Melbourne facing the beach, they found ways in under and around fly screens. This is the 3rd summer I have had to deal with them for up 8 weeks just before Christmas however this year they are leaving an orange residue on the glass and paintwork. I also don’t like spraying but my balcony which is unuseable while they are around
Maybe I`m a bit weird,but I like seeing them.I don`t understand why nearly everyone wants to kill them.They land all over me when I go into the back garden and I just put them on leaves of trees.I live in Chelsea,Victoria and had a swarm of them last year.Was worried as I didn`t know what sort of beetle critters they were,but as soon as I found out,I just let them do their thing.This year they are back in much bigger numbers,thousands in my garden.I like taking photos of them.
Yes, you may be right Jill. No one in their right mind could put up with the deluge of this pest that we are experiencing. To say you like seeing them is one thing . However having them land all over you and persevering, sorry, that’s just NUTS !!! You can have each and every one of them and GOOD LUCK !!!
We recently had a swarm of bees at our front gate for a week and it was a nightmare to get inside the house.
Just the other day we found that the bees were gone and these beetles were there in their place. After reading this article I am getting the impression that the soldier beetles were tough enough to take on a swarm of bees and have killed every last one of them.
I’m glad the bees are gone, but the beetles are still frustrating.
I think I’ll be taking the back exit from now until they disappear.
Oh dear, is nature getting in your way? Scared of some harmless beetles? You poor dears! Stop spraying poisonous muck, fit decent insect screens to your doors and windows and be grateful that there is still something alive out there. These beetles are not pests or a problem. They are the solution to insect pest problems.
Now that I have read about these guys, I’m going to stop complaining…. and spraying!! Glad to hear they are de-bugging my yard. The swarm is pretty bad today and I’ve been left house-bound because my four-year old won’t go outside. She won’t even let me carry her to the car. Suddenly, that is more annoying than the bugs!
I’m glad to say that my plague have disappeared – thanks to two cans of mortein! Ian, I think most of the people posting on this link have decent insect screens on doors and windows but still have the problem of the beetles getting indoors through vents or air conditioning vents. You may be the next “Harry Butler” and enjoy being at one with nature, but I for one am glad that I sprayed the mortein and glad that they are gone. I love nature and all living things and am adverse to “poisonous muck”, but the poisonous muck is obviously made for a reason. These bugs were and are annoying pests especially when you have small children, which you obviously don’t. Good riddance I say!
We have thousands of these beetles everywhere also in Bayswater North VIC – if only they didnt fly. I dont mind nature however its hard to explain to the kids that they wont hurt them when they fly into their eyes, ears etc. Hope they disappear as quick as they came!
So ok,
someone has said they’re “harmless”
and like a few others I felt somewhat relieved.
But hang on…
There’s absolutely millions of ‘em around my place and whilst they appear to disappear for a time, they’re here in force again.
Hit us this time last year (no damage) and we were pleased to see them go.
2 weeks ago back they came. Just before they left we collected some beaut photos to show our friends.
Curious to know more, found this column and realised that for the past year they have been bothering people from one end of the country to another.
(Note the comments timeline)
Has me wondering, as I sit here (surrounded) at Frankston Vic whether I might just grab a few more big cans o Mortein and despatch as many of the pesky lil critters as possible ?
Maybe we should all do a bit of discouraging hmmm?
Like, think on this…
Every one of em is copulating. All the Time!
Great clumps of them doing the business.
If there’s millions now and the phenomenon is just getting started… how many next year when all the eggs hatch? HEY???
Billions !
And the year after ? ? ?
Give it time the air will be so thick with them we might all be struggling for breath.
Haven’t seen any pics of them devouring garden pests either.
HAVE YOU?
I posted a comment on 25th November about our plague of Beetles. As off 2 days ago there isn’t one in the garden. Same thing happened last year. The only damage to the garden is where my husband poured soapy water on them, he has killed patches of lawn an a few plants. He actually did more damage than the beetles. Ha
i have them in kinglake too seem like they came after the storm the other day and havent left just more and more coming my grass is alive but least i know they are doing good now,thought they were wreaking my new garden . if i dont walk on the grass they dont swarm up so they are causing problems for me as they are only on the garden and nature strip.
IT’S THE APOPALYPSE PEOPLE!!! THE MAYAN’S WE RIGHT!!!
RUN FOR YOUR LIVES
Now they’ve hit Mt. Eliza. Swarm arrived yesterday and all very active.Like
Most I hope they will be gone soon…I wonder why this is happening now?
A swarm blew in on one of the gusts yesterday. They had been here in my (Elwood) garden in small numbers for a least a week already. Revoltingly they clump together in mounds on any bit of free green but they are pretty passive and easy to brush into a container to throw out. Not a fan.
They ‘plagued’ my white outside foyer, doorways and terrace walls yesterday in South Melbourne. My house but not the same house next to me. The footpath looked like it was moving when I swept them from the walls. Between my sweeping and the cool change (?) maybe? There are some today but I have not been outdoors yet to see if they are back in numbers on the outside walls.
If they get into the ducting (from getting inside the house), what to do? Pest controller or duct cleaner?
I don’t care if they eat bugs. I thought the birds were supposed to do that.
Well thank god the little buggers are harmless they can
Sit in the tree outside eat and drink til
Their bellies are full but get the hell out of
My yard when they are finished I sick of them
The kids won’t play outside cause they are
Head hunting lol so how long do they stick around
They have moved in for the last four days
Should start charging rent lol
Oh and I’m in tullamarine so they are every where
We discovered them at the back of our yard yesterday afternoon…it is a big block so they are not near our house yet, just on the grass & in the carport.
I’m in Newcastle NSW, have never seen anything like it before.
I’m interested to see if they are appearing further north.
We’ve had them for the last couple of months in Armidale. They mainly clump under trees and on some. Some days they take flight and they’re fine as long as you stay out of their way. I’m not a huge bug fan but these ones are fine- any bug that doesn’t bite or kill the plants are ok by me.
Thanks Alana. Hopefully ours are just passing through. There aren’t huge numbers, just small clumps here & there. Agree, they aren’t nasties but I can’t handle crawlies on me….I’m a woos. At least our one rose bush will be free of aphids & I think they may have cleared most of the thrips on my azaleas.
There are 1000s of them outside our house and they have now covered our gardenia bush completely. We are in East Kew, Vic
I’m in CHELSEA and they are all over my back yard … hope they fly away soon!!
Millions of them here in Greensborough over the past several weeks – covering leaves and stems of most bushes, cars, cracks, crevices and on walls of the house in lrge clumps ……bit “yucky” – but they don’t seem to be doing any damage…..last year it was millions of black centipedes which coil up on touching them – always seems to be some sort of critters appeareing in plague proportions each year…..something in nature “out of whack” ?…..
Carboryl spray will get rid of them. my whole garden was one great mass.
Yeah, we live in the southern suburbs of sydney. My backyard is full of them and my school has gum trees full of them.
we live at bilgola plateau, northern beaches of sydney have had these bugs for a week and still not gone thousands are still here over back yard in high gum trees everywhere, been spraying with surface spray hope they are gone by xmas. any help?
I am in Glenhaven Sydney hills and i had millions apon millions swarming my flowering weeping lilliy pillys. Thay are now clumped all over my herbs and all the rest of my garden nearest my lilyy pillys. There are so many on the branches of the lilly pillys they are weighted down and look very heavy.My 13 year old daughter is now scared to go outside and i will be glad to see the back of them. I dont like the idea of chemical control ( i would probably need a tanker full) so i think i will just wait them out.
We have at least a few thousand covering a couple of gum trees at my place ( Croydon, Victoria ). Do they just stay for the duration of the pollen or hang around ?? They did leave a couple of weeks ago for around 3-4 days but now have come back with a vengance !!
We are in reservoir and they are all over the flowering trees on our nature strips. School even had to make an announcement about them.
Thanks to all of you. I can relax now and enjoy Christmas.
These beetles are all over our house, but both neighbours seem untouched by the beetles. All doors and windows are covered and we are finding it difficult to enter and leave the house without them coming indoors. I know they are harmless, but I hope they leave soon. They arrived after my husband cleaned all our windows, just before Christmas and are still here, growing in numbers. Do they lay eggs in the ground and if so, can we avoid the plague next year by taking preventative action? I have read that the CSIRO is studying them for their cancer prevention properties, so I hope they are useful beetles.
Lynne we have the exact situation here at Camden NSW. Both side neighbours are bug free & we have the plague throughout the front yard. Freaking me out how many & the increase in numbers. Very interested to know if they are laying eggs in my yard as I do not want this repeating every year!!
These beetles are migratory- that’s how they suddenly arrive at your yard in large numbers! If they did lay eggs in your yard, the beetles that emerge from them are unlikely to stick around. I wouldn’t worry about a repeat performance.
So relieved that we’re not alone in this. I’ve killed a couple (of dozen) just stepping into the house, trying to get my daughter into the car etc. if they don’t clear off in the next few days, we may resort to some spray. Can’t leave the house or play in the backyard without being swarmed
Oh, and we’re in Sunshine over in Melbourne’s west
PLEASE… a bit of common sense people!
These soldier beetle swarms are a normal part of nature in Australia. THE BEETLES ARE HARMLESS. In fact they are predators which will clear out a lot of the pest insects in our gardens.
As a manager of a wholesale plant nursery on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria I welcome our current swarm. I know it won’t last, they are usually gone within a month or two, but while they are here they are only doing good.
So sorry for you poor suburban folk who are so disconnected with nature that harmless bugs frighten you. My 6 year daughter likes to stand in the garden and let them land on her. Sure, it’s natural to be frightened of a swarm of bees or wasps – they can kill you! But these beetles are nothing to stress about. Spraying chemicals all over the place to remove them, on the other hand, could seriously harm your family!
Chill out – it will all be over in a few weeks.
Thank you James for your sensible advice
They were here last summer, but never before that. Why? Climate change?
As for harmless, they destroyed the leaves of my clyvias around the trees in my garden. The usually dark green leaves are now brown, chewed, with circular sections completely eaten.
At first I thought they were bees because their colours and I heard sounds of bussing sounds that bees make. Now that I know what they are I’m sooooooooo happy. Got to luv this country’s nature…..such extreme in every living organism should be proud as it is such an unspoiled country when it comes to nature. James you’re right people living in the burbs should ‘get over it’ once I found what they were I’m glad I have them (I live in Truganina suburb vic) never have seen such an amazing thing. They do fly when sun is out so take avantage when it is a cloudy day and enjoy your front/ backyard.
Swarms in Ashtonfield 29 December to 2 January and continuing. They don’t like hot sun! Was gratified to be able to identify them. Difficult to locate by description as we thought them to be black and orange and were unsure whether they were actually a beetle. Have never seen them before.
Lots of swarming beetles up here for the past couple of days too.
Thousands, no millions, in the front yard under and around a gum tree. That’s no problem, aside from now having to use the back door so as not to invite them in.. The issue is they are getting inside and invading the study. How do you get them out from inside? I hate fumigating but this many (hundreds) is not ok inside.
I live in the city of greater Shepparton, and last year mid November is when I first saw them. Thy covered every single tree in school, they were entirely black.
Now, these things have found a way into my backyard and it’s annoying as hell. You can’t do anything without these things landing on you.
how long do they stick around for? I’m not too happy about this. >.<
I live in Docklands @ Melbourne and ever since the 41 degree day we had on the 4th of January thousands have been hanging found around the whole apartment building since.
Just curious if any of you are spiritually aware…? Call me crazy if you like but most of us walk around with blinkers on, never noticing what mother earth is tying to tell us.
Certain totems are a sign from spirit (it can be any creature that suddenly shows up in your life to make you notice eg: spiders, lizards, snakes etc – when you see more than one or people talk about them or you dream about them you should question yourself as to why – what the message is ) In this case “beetles” are a sign of change / metamorphosis. A cycle ending and a new one beginning
Just food for thought
I noticed a lot of you were annoyed about the swarms and trying to stop them, while others just accepted them. Perhaps the message for those fighting the beetles is stop fighting change in their lives and move forward…and to those accepting perhaps they are already embracing change in their lives!
We’re n Manly 2095 and there are millions in our yard and on our building. All coming from the big gumtree on council’s sidewalk.
In the recent very hot days, many millions of soldier beetles suddenly appeared around our property in North Ringwood, Vic. Then yesterday (when we were out watersliding with the grandchildren), son in anger and frustration smashed wife’s notebook computer. Wife feels time to sell the family home and get away from our adult sons.
I live in Heatmont, and discovered these beetles last weekend. We have a big gumtree out the front of our property and its smothered in these bugs. Totally covered my spider plants. It looked really weird looking at the grass ( what’s left after the heatwave) and all I can see is black grass and my stone driveway looks like its was moving cos there is so many of them.
LOL, my neighbour has just paid a pest control man to eradicate these bugs, little does he know they are everywhere and he has been ripped off. Neighbouring streets are also invded but they seemto be dipsersing now. My mum has them in her garden (in Bayswater North-Boronia area) and she is worried about her Lime tree. I told her they were ok.
I am in Parkdale and have thousands of them on my front fench and also they have managed to get into the boot of my car thru small gaps .Great that will make driving on the roads even more fun !!!! I just want them to fly somewhere else not into my home etc !!!
We live in Ryde and since last Monday we had millions of the bugs.They were at the base of the gum tree and pine tree and the lawn.They crunched under foot and got into hair etc.But today they swarmed in the morining and we just went outside to take a photograph and
Strangely they are have disappeared, how wonderful nature is.I am so glad we did not spray.
Maurice.
I have 5000 plus all around my house at Summerland Point nsw how long do they hang around for….?
Hi I am in Sunbury, Victoria and the soldier beetles are doing no harm I think, they have completely covered my gumtree out the front and have moved to the Yucas in the front garden and to my tree grass – I notice they move around looking for shade. When I first saw them I was a little worried about them coming in the house – but I have surface spray around the doors and windows and that seems to stop them without killing hundreds. I have that there as well for the ants. I have only had a small amount in the house – one or two.
I hope that can help the man with them in his study.
Hi I’m in St.Ives, Nth Shore Sydney, we have millions of beetles under very large gum trees. Started swarming after 40+ degree day last week. Rain the other night seemed to bring more down from the tree tops. Seem to love my birdsnest ferns and are massed in smaller native trees next door in bush. Never seen them before and have lived here for 34 years. I will leave them alone as there not near our house and are part of nature but look very kreepy!!
We have thousands of them in our backyard in Boronia. My two boys have made it their daily mission to go outside armed with weapons (a frisbee and a plastic sword) and try to take out as many as possible!! I have noticed a few spiders feasting on them.
A record Sydney temperature today 46 degrees and the soldier beetles arrived in full force at my house. I live in the Hills District. There were millions all over my big Blue Gum tree. I also recently layed Sir Walter Turf. I called council and was told they come in swarms and are harmless to humans, plants etc. They are not aggressive and do not bite but creepy none the less. Council said they come when gums flower and will leave shortly after maybe up to 2 weeks. Only just learning all about these soldier beetles today.
We had them mid November after laying Sir Walter turf. They seemed to disappear after a week or so. All ok now. Our grass is intact and no sign of these beeltes for over a month. I know people say they are harmless, but they are a bit of a worry when you see so many of them in your backyard and it does cause concern. However, with my experience this year, I would say just let nature take its course.
We had them in the scorching heat on Friday here in Sydney but the strangest thing is that they found a way inside and died, leaving our stairs smothered in them. After sweeping them up and going to bed, the next morning we found they had smothered the stairs again and died. I’m wondering why they died? Perhaps it’s our pest control working even though it doesn’t work for cockroaches.
I’m greatly relieved to have had these insects identified as Soldier Beetles, and to know that the plague is so widespread. I’m feeling really bad because I sprayed Pyretheum on some of the clusters…I’ll leave the rest of the tribe in peace now…very strange how they came on the heels of the extreme Sydney temps….glad I have insect netting covering my veggie beds!!
Our yard and trees were covered and weighed down with the beetles for about 3 weeks. They disappeared when the rain and cool weather came. They were more of a nuisance than anything….good that they don’t bite! I’m from Adamstown, Newcastle.
The soldier beetle swarm has finally made it to Queesland. We live on a property north of Toowoomba and they moved in about a week ago. I guess they are here for the gums and the eucalyptus beetle/larvae. Stay as long as you like!
Iv been camping near Mildura near the murray river. we usually camp there twice a year and have been doing it for a while but not this time. We could hardly get our stuff out because od these bugs. Head back to Melbourne and took the dogs out for a walk today and managed to run into them again. Are these things here to stay?
I thought the swarm covering my large patches of “pigface” ground cover in Parkdale had finally gone .I had noticed tiny bumps on the plants but didn’t think much of it ,now I have large white puffy balls which I presume are eggs .I’m not sure if they have already hatched and gone to ground, or are getting ready to hatch . I don’t like seeing every surface covered forming a black carpet instead of green and trying to keep the footpath clear so pedestrians don’t slip on those going walkabout . I haven’t seen any on my citrus trees or the eucalypt so I don’t know when they are supposed to eat the other pests .
There’s a swarm of these insects all over the back section of our yard, and normally I wouldn’t mind letting them do there thing, however they have begun to completely cover our rabbit hutches and while they are apparently harmless I have lost two of my rabbits recently and am not taking any risks losing more! to make matters worse they have swarmed all over the grave of our dog whom we lost in January. I simply cannot just allow them to go on desecrating his resting place, an need to know of a way to get rid of them by any means necessary, please if anyone could help I’d be very grateful.
I live in Canberra, and these bugs have taken over my backyard in swarms for the past 3 weeks, they’re all over everything, would be good to know how to get rid of them so I can go outside before the cold weather sets in.
maryborough victoria.I back onto bush land and they seem to be everywhere.They are coming out of the roof cavity at home. will try the soap and water method.
I thought our ivy hedge was an aphrodisiac to them! So relieved to hear they are not harmful. Perhaps we’re not seeing them on roses, fruit trees and whatnot because they have their mind on other things, at present. Ahem.
Update. Just went outside (ACT Region) to try a little experiment. I pointed out the swarm to the chooks. They looked briefly then decided against having a peck. Remarkable. This is the first time the girls have ever turned their beaks up at a potential food source. I also wondered if these beetles are leaving a pheromone trail behind them. When I have had them on my hands, they show a great interest in where the previous bugs have been. If so, would spraying something strongly scented, like Tea-tree oil or garlic, keep them off pet housing, cars, garden paths, etc? Where is Densey Clyne when you need her?!
Ok so I get they are not harmful, heck cockroaches are not harmful either but….. they are a PEST and I want them gone! like many of you these bugs are everywhere, my house used to be white now its covered by bugs and their excrement.
While its nice to know Im not alone in experiencing this plague, it would be much nicer to have people share what they used to get rid of the bugs. Besides soapy water and mortein is there any other way to get rid of these things on a large scale basis.
Rowville, melbourne. I have tens of thousands in my yard and they are all over my car…..i sprayed the yard the other day with 4 cans of insect spray..killed heaps, but they are still here…HOW DO WE GET RID OF THESE????????
Clearly Mexican by nature as they have come up from the south to the north to Inglewood in Queensland. They are also around Warwick. Orange to red under the wings liking warmth hiding at night. Birds don’t bother with them clumping together under eaves sails.
They make a mess of painted walls and they die in large numbers inside. They have been on this house for 3 weeks just get everywhere and die everywhere. When it gets to 0 degrees the numbers should fall….come on winter….
well i think is a really good looking insect >:)