Thick-legged flower beetle on ragwort
Dear Readers, Fran and Bobby Freelove have won the gold star again with 15/15 in the quiz, closely followed by FEARN, Anne and OKthislooksbad with 13/15. All of the the 13/15-ers got number 6 (the harlequin ladybird) and number 10 (the 16-spot orange ladybird) the wrong way round, which looking at the photos is not surprising :-). One way to id a harlequin is that it always has tiny indents at the bottom of the wing covers, and believe it or not, this photo was the clearest that I could find (though not halfway clear enough, obviously!) I hope you enjoyed the quiz, and very well done everybody, you did a splendid job. Because you’ve all done so well, if you pop a request for the next quiz in the comments I shall consider it kindly.
Dear Readers, I hope you enjoyed this week’s quiz – I must say I really enjoyed looking at the photographs of these extraordinary insects, so varied and so exquisite (even the ones that munch on my lavender and eat other people’s lilies). Did you have a favourite? I have to say that the golden-bloomed longhorn beetle struck me as particularly gorgeous, but I have a great fondness for every single one. When I was growing up, we used to have stag beetles in our ‘summer room’ (aka cheap conservatory) and when Dad took us to watch the speedway at Hackney, the air would be full of cockchafers. Let’s do everything that we can to support these extraordinary animals.
1) d) Green Tiger Beetle (Cicindela campestris)
2) n) Stag Beetle (Lucanus cervus)
3) j) Lily beetle (Lilioceris lilii)
4) a) Rosemary beetle (Chrysolina americana)
5) l) Devil’s coach-horse (Staphylinus olens
6) m) Harlequin ladybird ( Harmonia axyridis)
7) c) Bloody-nosed beetle (Timarcha tenebricosa)
8) h) Click beetle (Athous haemorrhoidalis)
9) b) Rose Chafer (Cetonia aurata)
10) i) 16-spot orange ladybird ( Halyzia 16-guttata)
11) k) Sexton beetle (Nicrophorus vespillo)
12) g) Vine weevil (Otiorhynchus sulcatus)
13) f) Thistle tortoise beetle (Cassida rubiginosa)
14) o) Cockchafer/May bug ( Melolontha melolontha)
15) e) Golden-bloomed grey longhorn beetle (Agapanthia villosoviridescens)
Photo Credits
Photo One by Bruce Marlin / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)
Photo Two by George Chernilevsky / Public domain
Photo Three by Salicyna / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)
Photo Four by Hectonichus / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)
Photo Five by Galwaygirl / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)
Photo Six by spacebirdy(also known as geimfyglið (:> )=| made with Sternenlaus-spirit) / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)
Photo Seven by nick goodrum from Catfield in Norfolk, United Kingdom / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)
Photo Eight by By André Karwath aka Aka – Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=875749
Photo Nine by By I, Chrumps, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2521547
Photo Ten by Ben Sale from UK / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)
Photo Eleven by Donald Hobern from Copenhagen, Denmark / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)
Photo Twelve by AJC1 from UK / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)
Photo Thirteen by Ryan Hodnett / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)
Photo Fourteen by nick goodrum from Catfield in Norfolk, United Kingdom / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)
Photo Fifteen by Siga / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)
Ha! I should have counted the spots!
Thank you for the quiz. Beetles are fascinating and many are stunning, the metallic colours are amazing. We have a liking for Long Horned beetles, we love the Wasp Beetle (Clytus Arietis). This is the first year there hasn’t been any Lily Beetles on the tree lilies, but even so we’re very much live and let live and would never resort to chemicals.
Good for you! Nature normally finds a balance anyway. I have lots of rosemary beetles and froghoppers on my lavender and it does very well regardless.
Sorry I didn’t get time to enter. It’s been a busy few days full of nices surprises. 😊 My score would have been very low anyway. As for the next topic, perhaps one which Fran and Bobby are not very good at!? 😉
🙂
My response update was jocular and should not have been allowed – but I appreciate not being outed as bottom of the class. The result of the process is that my repertoire of beetle names has probably doubled. The rosemary beetles surprised me – because I always have rosemary growing and have never seen these iridescent blighters(I guess I should be happy). Besides isn’t that lavender they are on? The bloody nose one gave me a laugh! :0 Thanks
Hah! The Rosemary beetles like all those Mediterranean plants, and I often see them on mine – they’re about ladybird-sized and so pretty. I’ve not had any problems with my lavender either, so I think their reputation is a bit more fearsome than they are…
A fiendish quiz would be all thistles or thistle like flowers!
A good idea, but pretty close to my daisy quiz the other week?
No, please, anything but thistles. I couldn’t get those other 2 the right way around! (Still not sure of the difference). 🤔