My photo blog

Two small beetles I photographed in my garden.



This metallic green one, 10mm long, is called a "fat-legged flower beetle" (scarabée aux grosses cuisses!), you can see why! One site on the Net says "They look as if their wing covers (elytra) have shrunk in the wash because they don't quite meet in the middle." (On dirait que leurs ailes ont rétréci au lavage car elles ne se joignent plus au centre). It's obviously a humorous site.



This bright red one is a bee beetle ( le clairon des abeilles); it feeds on pollen in flowers and sometimes small insects. It lays its larvae in wild bees' nests (les nids d'abeille sauvages) and they feed on the bee larvae.