Description: Rhipicera sp These beetles visited our garden and we were lucky enough to see both the male and female together. The female with the small antennae came in earlier than the male. It was interesting watching the male fly around with his antennae out wide, flying around a shrub where the female was waiting. He bumped into a few branches but kept on flying. As soon as he found where the female was waiting, he landed and they commenced mating immediately. Information from the
CSIRO website tells us: "There are only 6 species of Rhipiceridae in Australia and all belong to the genus Rhipicera. Adults range in size from 10 to 25 millimetres in length and can be recognised by their large fan-like antennae. The antennae of males are unusual in that they have more than 20 segments and arise from small knob-like prominences. Most species are grey-black in colour with white spots on the elytra and pronotum, formed by patches of hair." "The larvae of Australian species is unknown. " The american species are known Cicada parasites. The male beetle uses his antennae to locate a female beetle emitting pheromones, indicating she is ready for mating. Date: Taken on 19 April 2011, 12:37. Source:
Feather horned beetle. Author:
Jean and Fred from Perth, Australia. Flickr tagsInfoFieldbeetles m f yard, rhipicera femorata, dascilloidea, rhipiceridae, beetle, male and female, feather-horned beetle, rhipicera sp, taxonomy:genus=rhipicera,
geo:country=australia, rhipicera, femorata, 39.