Muscle-bound, shiny and flaunting it – meet the beetle, strutting through Dorset gardens in metallic green lycra like a six-legged bodybuilder
Picture, if you will, Arnold Schwarzenegger in his prime, gatecrashing a quiet Dorset garden party wearing tight, bright metallic green lycra. Sounds unlikely, I know.
Yet that very specimen – muscular, shiny and dressed to impress – is likely roaming your flower beds right now.
Meet the male thick-legged flower beetle. With bulging back legs and a metallic suit he struts across flowers like a mini bodybuilder, showing off his impressive quads to any nearby females. She’s less about muscle, more about poise: think skinny-legged supermodel rather than gym-honed athlete.
Both sport dazzling emerald-green outfits, making them quite literally summer’s most glamorous couple.
They aren’t exactly newcomers to Dorset, but before the 1990s, you’d have struggled to find them. Since then their species has spread across southern England and Wales, even reaching as far north as the Scottish Borders. Now, from May to August, you could find them anywhere with flowers, though oxeye daisies, cow parsley and buttercups are some of their favourites. And they don’t just look good – they’re also excellent pollinators as they traipse and fly between summer blooms in search of pollen.
But here’s the twist: you won’t find their youngsters trailing behind them. In fact, they won’t ever meet their offspring. The females lay eggs in the hollow stems of plants such as teasel or wild carrot, and, once hatched, their larvae develop and stay hidden before pupating and emerging next spring as adults – long after their parents have gone.
If you’d like to tempt some into your garden, it’s quite simple. Instead of cutting them back, leave any dead, hollow stemmed plants in the autumn. By leaving them standing until spring, you’ll provide the thick-legged flower beetle larvae – and many other insects – with a safe winter haven.
Know your thick-legged beetle
- Males have thick back legs, females don’t
- Favourite flowers: oxeye daisy, daisies, cow parsley
- Where: gardens, meadows, hedgerows, roadside verges
- Eats: pollen and nectar – they are excellent pollinators
- Colour: metallic green or bronze
- Size: 6-11 mm long
- When: May to August, especially on sunny warm days
- Larvae: live in the dead stems of plants like teasel and wild carrot
by Jane Adams
