Subject: Kirstenbosch Bug
Location: Kirstenbosch National Botanic Gardens
February 26, 2017 10:17 am
I write a wildlife blog with photos I’ve taken from my travels. I want to properly identify these mating bugs so I can present correct information on their breeding habits, lifestyle, etc. This photo was taken at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens in Cape Town, SA.
Thanks for your help!
Signature: Christian
Do you have an image that does not have the flower petals obscuring the beetles?
Unfortunately, they were in the flowers for awhile. I have this above shot of them as well. Sadly, I don’t own a macro lens and wasn’t able to get extremely close to them because of lens focus constraints. My husband also brought up looking up known pollinators for this flower, so I may try that tactic as well.
Let me know if this helps!
Christian
Dear Christian,
Thanks for sending a second view. These are Scarab Beetles, and we suspect they are Fruit and Flower Chafers in the Subfamily Cetoniinae or Shining Leaf Chafers in the Subfamily Rutelinae. Representing the Cetoniinae, they might be the Small fruit|flower chafer, Leucocelis adspersa subsp. adspersa, which is pictured on iSpot in a single posting only. There is a better image on the Flower Beetles site with the image here.