The rain has meant that this year’s hatching of Christmas beetles has been above average. In such numbers these beetles can defoliate gum trees and have been associated with “New England dieback” – the mass killing of thousands of gum trees in years gone by.
[For orientation purposes, the beetles in this photograph are all clinging to the leaf facing down, towards the ground 
].
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Ha. Up here we call them June Bugs.
Insects terrify me 0 inlcusing the poor Christmas beetle. Last week I bumped into a paper wasp nest in my Mango tree and I’ve been covered in painful welts. It was the most painful thing EVER. Nature sucks sometimes LOL