Rose chafer

This morning Mr Flossmo brought me a piece of paper with a beetle on it that he had found on the living room carpet. I carried it out onto the garden table and sat watching it, its iridescent shell gleaming in the sunshine.  For a long time it didn't move and I was convinced it was dead. The slowly it poked out a feeler and then another and finally a leg. But it all seemed a bit feeble.

So I decided that perhaps it needed a drink. I got a small drop of water and placed it on the paper just in front of its head. It quickly sucked up the lot and just as quickly shot out a stream of brown stuff from the other end. I howled with delight. We sat there watching each other for a while longer and then quite suddenly it opened its wings and flew off at speed.

When I got back inside I did an internet search and it seems it was a Rose Chafer. Highly damaging to your roses, apparently, one should drown these pests in a bucket of soapy water. How could I kill such a beautiful animal? I'm glad it flew away and if in the meantime it has a bit of a munch on my flowers, well, so be it.