Big Beetles

Very excited to find two big beetles that I have never seen or photographed before when Ollie and I went for a walk on our usual route around our property after lunch.

The first was by the northerly boiler house on hogweed near lots of wild rose bushes. (Extras) I recognised it as a chafer, I now know it's a rose chafer. A large and very impressive insect. It seemed quite ponderous when I was photographing it but I was amazed when it whizzed suddenly into the air.

The second was a variable longhorn beetle, again on hogweed. Much bigger than the yellow and black Rutpela maculata longhorns that I have been caputring a lot recently.  As the name indicates, the colouring of these beetles is highly variable. They really are ponderous. Mine fell off the flower into the undergrowth.