Basalt to Bay Landcare Network facilitator Lisette Mill found the feathered horned beetle (Rhipicera (Agathorhipis) femorata) last week in the St Helens area when a federal Green Army program was working in the area.

The discovery of the beetle follows her find of a gum snout moth at Pretty Hill Flora Reserve less than 10 kilometres away in January.

The previous recorded sighting of the beetle listed in the Atlas of Living Australia database was near Cranbourne, south of Melbourne, more than 300 kilometres away, while the moth had been previously sighted about 150km away.

Ms Mill said she found both insects while working around St Helens with a Green Army crew on the West East Link Connectivity Project. 

The program aims to improve the quality of future habitat links for the endangered southern brown bandicoots, also found in the St Helens area. 

“If we hadn’t had the support of the federal government to provide us with a Green Army crew, I would not have been in the right place at the right time to record these species,” Ms Mill said. 

“That these insects are present and so far away from previous recorded sightings just reinforces the opportunity for new discoveries to be made by local Landcare with the support of the Green Army,” she said.

She said it was hoped the two insect populations would benefit from the work of the Green Army crew, which had been improving stock fencing and reducing weed threats in the area.

Ms Mill said the feathered horned beetle belonged to a group of insects that in America preyed on cicada grubs. 

A Guide to the Beetles of Australia said the feather or fan-horned beetles occurred in most states in Australia, including Tasmania, but their lifecycle on the continent was unknown.

Since Ms Mill’s find, the gum snout moth had been added to the Parks Victoria website record for the Pretty Hill reserve.

Both the federal environment minister Greg Hunt and federal member for Wannon Dan Tehan included news about the insect finds on their social media posts.