Most of us can tell a bee from a fly, can’t we? We all have an idea about what each of them looks like: a fly is small and shiny; a bee is colourful, furry and buzzes about flowers. In fact most of us conjure up a vision of each based on experience. Birds probably…
The thick-legged flower beetle, Oedemera nobilis (Family Oedemeridae), is a common pollen-feeding beetle found in flower heads during the spring and summer. They occur throughout western and southern Europe. I took these photographs of O. nobilis beetles in NW Spain (Galicia) in June 2018. The enlarged hind legs (femora) are only found in the males; a sexually dimorphic feature.…
Ray Cannon's nature notes 