Delta Flower Scarab

Description:

Identification Distinctive medium-sized beetle with yellow-orange to brown and black elytra, with striking triangular pattern on pronotum.

Habitat:

Orlando Wetlands. Habitat Meadows with flowers.

Notes:

Season Mostly: Jun-Jul (Full: May-Nov) Food Adults take pollen and/or nectar. (Possibly eat vegetative parts as well?) Food plants include Goldenrod (Solidago), Feverfew (Parthenium), Coneflower (Echinacea), and Rattlesnake Master (Eryngium yuccafolium). Life Cycle Mating occurs on flowers. Larvae are found in decaying wood, e.g., stumps, and have also been found in bromeliads. Perhaps the Delta pattern on the pronotum, combined with the orange coloration of the elytra is mimicry of wasps, such as... Paper Wasp, Polistes fuscatus/Southern Yellowjacket, Vespula squamosa