Rose Chafer

Another day and another pretty green bug. This one is a Rose Chafer (Cetonia Aurata), found throughout the Uk, particularly in the South, and Europe. It is a beneficial bug whose its larvae lives and feeds on rotting timber and compose: consider it the insect equivalent of a worm. The adults eat pollen, nectar and petals, in particular on roses from which it gets its name.

Its duller namesake in the US is not so welcome (Macrodactylus subspinosus) as their appetite is more voracious and they can cause a lot of damage not only to the rose from which they again take their name, but to foliage, flowers and fruits of many plants, including grapes where they are a particular problem for vineyards.

This specimen spent a happy hour crawling slowly over a flowering Hebe, giving me plenty of time to set the tripod up - or so I thought, as most of the time it had its head buried deep within a flower before almost jumping to the next. I got some lovely shots of its back end, but only few with the so important focus on the head.