Cicadas and Christmas beetles traditionally herald the informal start of summer and the countdown to Christmas. But ask yourself, have you spotted a beetle yet?
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"People remember them being around in huge numbers around Christmas, but that just doesn't seem to happen anymore, particularly on the east coast of Australia," Associate Professor Tanya Latty said.
So where are the Christmas beetles now? Are climate change and urbanisation to blame?
The large, colourful beetles inevitably turn up in big numbers for summer, but now the entomologist at the School of Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Sydney isn't so sure.
Scientists suspect that they are in decline, but there's no formal monitoring program, so they just don't know how bad the decline really is, and whether it is affecting all 35 species.
"We just don't have enough information," Assoc Prof Latty said.
"We need to collect data on Christmas beetle populations in order to understand where they are, and in what quantities. And we can only do that with the help of the public."
She wants volunteer 'citizen scientists' to help with the university's Christmas Beetle Count.
It involves simply downloading, iNaturalist an app, which allows users to instantly capture a picture and location of each Christmas beetle they see. The app will help identify the species.
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"Only with this kind of large-scale baseline data, collected by thousands of Australians around the country, will we be able to figure out if they are really declining, and eventually, why," Associate Professor Latty added.
Assoc Prof Latty will host an introductory webinar on Wednesday at 6pm AEDT. You can register here.
The project starts on November 26, and anyone downloading the iNaturalist app can take part, by searching for Christmas Beetle Count and signing up. Or check out the website here.
