It took a while to track down the identification of the tiny black beetles which arrived on the sunflowers in large numbers:
The pollen beetle, probably Meligethes aeneus, is particularly attracted to almost any yellow object and can be found on oil seed rape and sunflowers amongst others.
I've been racking my brains trying to remember what they were called.
ReplyDeleteExcellent macro video.
Thank you Adrian. Spent ages searching for 'small black beetles' to no avail. Wasn't till I tried 'pollen beetle' I found it.
Deletecolor-specific beetles! interesting!
ReplyDeleteIt is TWG though the majority of wild flowers do seem to be yellow anywhere round here.
DeleteGreat close-up video! I think yellow flowers must be appealing to many creatures. I have noticed that yellow pansies, for example, seem to have a sweeter scent. Also have noticed squirrels eating yellow crocuses. Hmmm... food for thought. Liked the music that accompanied your video as well. Thanks for the welcome back :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Glo. Blackbirds seem to destroy yellow crocuses first - maybe they have more insects in the flowers. Purple Planet have a nice selection of royalty free music for use with videos.
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We used to get lots of these in the keel of our sweet pea flower which made them quite a nuisance when you wanted flowers indoors. They are supposed to fly out off the flowers if they are put in a darkened place with a window as a light source. The idea being they will fly to the window. We haven't had as many for a few years now so maybe they are sticking to the old seed rape fields.
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