Bug FAQFiddler Beetle
Eupoecila australasiae · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Scarabaeidae
Also called: Australian Rose Chafer
Fiddler beetles are about 1.5 to 2 cm long and have a dark-brown body with lime-green to yellow markings. They live in eastern Australia’s heathlands, eucalypt woodlands and even in suburban parks and gardens. Larvae develop inside rotting wood, while adults emerge in early summer and feed on flower nectar.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The beetle’s back shows a pattern of dark brown mixed with lime-green to yellow patches.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
It measures roughly 15 to 20 mm in length.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It is found in heathland, eucalypt woodland, and also in suburban parks and gardens across eastern Australia.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Larvae live in decaying wood where they feed until they are ready to pupate. Adult beetles emerge in early summer and drink nectar from flowers.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Females lay eggs in rotting logs, debris, or soil. The new adults burrow up through the soil and appear in early summer.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults emerge from the soil in early summer.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
The species is native to eastern Australia.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
It belongs to the flower-chafer subfamily of scarab beetles.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 1 of 51 states and DC. Most records: South Carolina.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: introduced in United States. Source: iNaturalist
More photos
Questions people ask
What do fiddler beetle larvae eat?
The larvae feed on rotting wood until they are ready to pupate.
Source: Wikipedia
Where are fiddler beetles found?
They live in heathland, eucalypt woodland, and suburban parks and gardens across eastern Australia.
Source: Wikipedia
What do adult fiddler beetles feed on?
Mature beetles sip nectar from flowers after emerging in early summer.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Scarabaeidae)
Japanese BeetlePopillia japonicaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Common Green June BeetleCotinis nitidaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Phyllophaga crinitaPhyllophaga crinitaDamages trees, gardens or crops
European Rose ChaferCetonia aurata
Mediterranean Spotted ChaferOxythyrea funestaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Oriental BeetleExomala orientalisDamages trees, gardens or cropsSources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eupoecila_australasiae
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.