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Project Noah Nature School
Melobasis sp.
Jewel beetles (buprestidae) are attracted to flowers on hot days. This green specimen has revealed a metallic blue body when caught stretching its wings. They are very alert and will suddenly take to flight or drop when the camera gets too close.
Feeding on flower nectar on a hilltop in native forest.
Spotted on Oct 4, 2013
Submitted on Oct 9, 2013
14 Comments
Thanks Stephen
Thanks Leuba
Thanks Toshim
Beautiful!
What a beauty, Martin - great shots too!
Good job, worth the effort! They are lovely.
Thanks Sachin Zaveri
Superb Sharing,,
They certainly do not cooperate like the leaf beetles usually do. They will drop or fly. Some people (me) hold a hand or net underneath them to catch them when they drop. That is what I did for this shot. This photo was staged the next day. Found on acacia flowers, I put it on Photinia flowers in the cool morning and in direct sunlight and with flash. We will find the colorful Castiarina beetles on flowers this year. They are the true jewels
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/193...
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/791...
Nice job Martin. I saw these today and every time I pointed my camera at them they vanished.
The metallic blue body is common to many buprestidae (jewel) beetles. So it was not surprising as much as delightful. I did wonder if this behavior served to attract partners or startle predators or just to stretch wings. I have this following beetle in a collection with wings opened and have seen it in others http://www.godofinsects.com/index.php/mu...
Must have been a surprise to see the blue?
Thank you RiekoS
This beetle was regularly stretching its wings and showing a bright flash of color. This angle caught the sunlight.
Very nice.
Thank you rams4d
Nice spot