Saturday, June 16, 2007

A bee or not a bee? That is the question.


I saw this critter feeding in the spirea yesterday (now in full bloom, and drawing quite a crowd).

I thought is must be some weird kind of bee. Look at the fluff, look at the feet. But this ain't no bee. Look at the wings. This is a scarab beetle. A member of the genus Trichiotinus, a hairy flower scarab. (Possibly Trichiotinus assimilis?) And I know that now thanks to the good people at BugGuide.net. I just hope that every day, in every way I'm getting better at looking at insects.

1 comment:

burning silo said...

I love Trichiotinus beetles. I always describe them as looking like bees with saddles. (-: