Any of a number of South African or Australian cicadas or beetles that are abundant or noticeable during the summer.
Example sentencesExamples
There are 35 species of Christmas beetles right across Australia, but most prefer the moister east and south easterly areas, especially near the coast.
They are both Coleopterans, one is a Christmas beetle and one is a Mealworm beetle.
The life cycle of a Christmas beetle is from one to two years.
The beetle pictured above is known as a Christmas beetle and would be familiar to many.
I grew up in Melbourne in the 60s and 70s where Christmas beetles were iridescent.