Rose Chafer / Zlatni konjic

Description:

It is a beetle, 20 mm long, that has metallic green colouration (but can be bronze, copper, violet, blue/black or grey) with a distinct V shaped scutellum, the small triangular area between the wing cases just below the thorax, and having several other irregular small white lines and marks. The underside is a coppery color. They can be found on warm sunny days, between May and June/July, occasionally to September.

Habitat:

Rose chafers are found over southern and central Europe and the southern part of the UK where they seem to be sometimes very localized. They are a very beneficial saprophagous species (detritivore), their larvae are the insect equivalent of earth worms and help make very good compost where they are often found in great numbers.