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.
