Green Protea Beetle
Trichostetha fascicularis
Green Protea Beetle
Trichostetha fascicularis (Linné, 1767) (5519259139) by Udo Schmidt (CC BY-SA 2.0)
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Green Protea Beetle is a pretty, medium-sized metallic-green Scarab beetle (Scarabaeidae) belonging to the Fruit Beetle subfamily (Cetoniinae).
These beetles will feed on various fruits and flowers, but these particularly favour the flowers of Protea shrub. They burrow deep within the flowers, munching the pollen and sucking up nectar.
While doing this, pollen sticks to their bright-orange hairy stomachs! They are clumsy flyers, creating a loud buzz when in flight between plants.
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Traits
A beautiful beetle that can help pollinate Protea flowers!
Appearance
Adults: These beetles are medium-sized (2.5cm). They are distinctive, making them easy to identify. They're a metallic emerald green, the elytra possess distinctive grooves and punctures that run horizontally down the wingcases. Tufts of orange hair are visible from above, this hair covers the stomach and catches pollen as the beetle feeds.
Larvae: The grubs (larvae) spend their entire lives below ground, developing in the soil.
Activity
Diurnal
Personality
Order
Coleoptera
Family
Scarabaeidae
Metamorphosis
Complete
Distribution
South Africa
Biological treatment
The benefits this beetle provides the wider ecosystem outweigh any negatives. These beetles may end up in a garden if there are Proteas nearby. If these are causing you bother in the garden, they can be picked off any desirable plants and relocated.
Chemical treatment
No specific chemical control for this beetle.
Attracts
These scarabs are attracted to habitats containing Proteas.
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