Alice Springs Fauna •
Alice Springs Beetles > Alice Springs Beetles Index
Merimna atrata (family Buprestidae – Jewel Beetles) is the only member of the genus Merimna (thus monotypic). A widespread species that is found across most of Australia, it is also known as the ‘fire beetle’ due to it’s behaviour of being attracted to heat and fires.
The female of the species will lay their eggs in the cracks of timber, immediately after a fire, even if the plant is still smouldering. They are known to ber attracted to camp fires, mistaking them for a bushfire, and to a hot brick wall after a very hot day.
The following specimen was retrieved from a swimming pool in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.









- Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Subphylum: Hexapoda
- Class: Insecta
- Informal: Pterygotes
- Order: Coleoptera
- Suborder: Polyphaga
- Superfamily: Buprestoidea
- Family: Buprestidae
- Subfamily: Buprestinae
- Tribe: Melanophilini
- Genus: Merimna
- Species: Merimna atrata
Footnote & References
- Many thanks for ID to Allen Sundholm, creator of Australasian Beetles Only, Facebook group, https://www.facebook.com/groups/1180404322409639/
- Merimna atrata (Gory & Laporte, 1837), Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/Merimna atrata
Alice Springs Beetles IndexBisallardiana sp Blaps polychresta Bolboceratidae Calosoma oceanicum Calosoma schayeri Carphurus (Soft-winged Flower Beetle) Cassidini Chalcophorotaenia Chlorobapta frontalis Coccinella transversalis (Transverse Ladybird) Colpochila Cryptolaemus montrouzieri (Mealybug Destroyer Beetle) Cybister tripunctatus (Three-punctured Diving Beetle) Dicranolaius bellulus (Red and Blue Beetle) Enochrus (Water Scavenger Beetle) Eretes australis (Padded Diving Beetle) Fungus Weevil (Dendropemon subfasciatus) Hydrophilus brevispina Lepidiota Merimna atrata Neospades sp Pachydissus (Longhorn Beetles) Paropsisterna laesa (Eucalyptus Leaf Beetle) Phoracantha punctata (Longhorn Beetle) Phorticosomus sp Phoracantha recurva (Eucalyptus Longhorn Beetle) Prioninae subfamily Protaetia fusca (Mottled Flower Scarab) Pterohelaeus sp (Blue Pie-dish Beetles) Scarabaeinae (Dung Beetles)
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