Jewel beetles

Perfect, great find Martin

Thank you dotun
Thank you FynKynd
Its one of my favorite shots.

Your spotting has been nominated for the Spotting of the Week. The winner will be chosen by the Project Noah Rangers based on a combination of factors including: uniqueness of the shot, status of the organism (for example, rare or endangered), quality of the information provided in the habitat and description sections. There is a subjective element, of course; the spotting with the highest number of Ranger votes is chosen. Congratulations on being nominated!

They look special in their gold-blue-black elytra.

hahaha ;)

... and use a tongue scraper

...maybe we should change our toothpaste

I like that observation Martin. I accidentally breathed on a big cluster of beetles yesterday and it sounded like heavy rain on the ground.

Thanks Leuba. On a bushy hilltop. Each flower stem had one. They will drop if you breath. They are like plastic buttons. Smiles all round.

You found them Martin ! very nice.

Well, I was thinking of the Thailand Jewel beetle Sternocera spp for living brooches but there seem to be plenty of other examples...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_insect...

MartinL, you don't say!!! I NEVER knew this. Thanks...made me smile just to think of it (the beetles might not have liked it) but the idea!!! :)

Thanks SukanyaDatta
Indeed people used to wear live jewel beetles as brooches with a short string tied around the beetle and clipped to the shirt.

Thank you Ernst.
They are considered to be common.
I have not noticed them before as I think they are a montane species, or at least requiring bush-land habitat.

Gorgeous...could be worn as a brooch I think...so ornamental!

Thanks vedkarve
It's quite exciting to see such beetles