I hear you jamius – Saturday night was nutso (and having just been to see King Kong that arvo, bugs took on a whole new level of sinister)

Someone at work was just talking about the problem (they live in Watson). Another from Belconnen mentioned it too.

I’ve seen nothing yet (I’m in Swinger Hill)

dry weather is not good for a bug reproduction cycle.

humid weather is perfect ergo more bugs.

Very wet spring followed by a reasonably wet summer which has lead to higher humidity and grass growth which acts as food and protection for the little beasties.

The gardners at the War Memorial spent the morning with a leaf blower cleaning up the concrete area behind the main building because it was covered in dead beetles.

I’ve since heard that some entomologist has been interviewed on the radio – apparently they are some kind of burrowing beetle, and they come up out of the ground at this time of year to mate. The males die, the females burrow again – hence all the dead bugs around the trappings.

Apparently this is all quite normal for this time of year – can’t say I’ve ever noticed before though.

If you’re talking about those long thin black ones, Big James – they taste horrible!
(Makes mental note: do not yawn whilst listening to uncle Bertie’s crappy cricket heroics when standing under electric lamp at family barbeque on hot summer nights).

We put a bucket of water under the balcony light which worked rather well as a rudimentary bug catcher.

Terubo, the little fella was probably over-cooked after hitting the electric lamp, and hence a little chewy.

BTW thanks all for the info.

they are attracted by light, went out for a walk last night and there were thousands of them on every light pole. Ive never seen them before either

I noticed that they turned most of the lights off at the Shell servo at EPIC tonight, as they have had lots of those black beetles there. They had soo many it gave me goosebumps…

I have tonnes of those beetles coming inside. They get stuck on their backs on the kitchen floor or get sutch in the carpet, so dumb.
They also fly up to the light, hit themselves on it then fall to the ground.
More tips appreaciated!

I guess turn as many lights off as possible and try the bucket of water trick if you do turn lights on. Perhaps use those bug repellant candles as the only source of light when sitting outside…?