Monday 24 September 2007

Thick-Legged Flower Beetle (Oedemera nobilis)

OTHER NAMES: Swollen-thighed Beetle, False Oil Beetle
Latin Etymology: Oedemera (?) nobilis ("noble")
Adult Thick-Legged Flower Beetle (Oedemera nobilis) at Mullion, Cornwall - June 2011

Featured Subspecies: ?
Length: 8-10mm
UK Status: Not Evaluated IUCN Red List: Not Yet Evaluated

Also known as the False-Oil Beetle and the Swollen-Thighed Beetle, as the name suggests the distinctive feature for the males is the massive bulky thighs, combined with the metallic green shells.  This species is apparently a fairly common and widely distributed species in the UK, but I have only knowingly encountered it once - on a flower in Mullion is Cornwall.

Related Species:
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Oedemeridae
Genus: Oedemera

SUBSPECIES: None - monotypic

- Sighting Locations -
UNITED KINGDOM A fairly common resident species which is seen in Summer
 - Seen in Mullion and various other sites

Further Notes: 
BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto

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