| White-spotted Rose Beetle (Oxythyrea funesta (Poda, 1761)) |
|
|
|
Scientific name: Oxythyrea funesta (Poda, 1761) Common name: White-spotted Rose Beetle French name: Cétoine grise, Drap mortuaire, Cétoine funeste. Order: Coleoptera Family: Cetoniidae Wingspan : 8-14 mm. Biotope: On flowers of low growing plants and shrubs. It can be considered as a pest for fruit trees. Geographic area: Western part of the Palaearctic zone, Near East. Observation period : May to July. |
The White-spotted Rose Beetle is a shiny black colour, sometimes bronze or slightly greenish. It is covered with a white pubescence which disappears during the first two months. The elytra are irregularly spotted with white. The pronotum shows six small white spots aligned in two longitudinal rows of three spots each. The fore leg tibiae show three teeth with two of them externally oriented. White-spotted Rose Beetles feed on flowers, mainly those which are light coloured. They eat stamens, carpels and petals too. The proliferation of White-spotted Rose Beetles can cause severe damages. The larvae grow in the soil where they feed on roots. There is a possible confusion with the Apple Blossom Beetle (Epicometis hirta) which is also black and spotted with white but a slightly smaller size. This last one does not show any white spot on the pronotum which bears a defined longitudinal ridge. The body is covered with a dense pubescence and the fore leg tibiae show three externally oriented teeth. |
| [To know more about the White-spotted Rose Beetle] [Next picture] [Top] |
|
White-spotted Rose Beetles are rather common insects which are easy to observe. They are very easy to approach when they are busy feeding on flowers. |
| [To know more about the White-spotted Rose Beetle] [Next picture] [Previous picture] [Top] |
|
You can clearly see, on this picture, the two longitudinal rows of three white spots each on the pronotum. |
| [To know more about the White-spotted Rose Beetle] [Next picture] [Previous picture] [Top] |
|
The proliferation of White-spotted Rose Beetles can cause important damages. This is not the case here since this observation was done on the wild flowers growing in a fallow field. |
| [To know more about the White-spotted Rose Beetle] [Previous picture] [Top] |
|
Mating. |
André Bon October 2013