White-Spotted Fruit Chafer
Mausoleopsis amabilis
White-Spotted Fruit Chafer
Photo by magriet b (CC BY-SA 4.0)
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The White-Spotted Fruit Chafer is a shiny-black scarab beetle with white spots. They may be found feeding on blooms in gardens but generally occur in low numbers.
They're attracted to fruit baits and sap flows, and sometimes they'll be found in birds nests! The larvae, which look like C shaped grubs, develop in horse and goat dung.
Common to most habitat types in Southern Africa, including subtropical savanna and woodlands.
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Traits
The adults will nibble on flower petals, hiding in the buds.
Flower chafers are important pollinators.
Appearance
Adults: These beetles comprise some subspecies that look incredibly alike. They grow between 1-1.3cm. They're shiny black and possess 1-3 large, white dots per wingcase (elytra). Some individuals may possess smaller spots.
Symptoms
Medium-sided black and white beetles on flower heads.
Activity
Diurnal
Personality
Order
Coleoptera
Family
Scarabaeidae
Metamorphosis
Complete
Distribution
Africa
Biological treatment
These beetles tend not to be in too high abundance. Plants seem to withstand the damage they inflict on them too.
Attracts
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