The Black Flower Chafer is a small flower beetle, about 1/2 in (11–15 mm) long, with a velvety, dull black back crossed by pale yellow bands. It lives in East Asia, including Japan, Korea, and China, and is not found in the United States.
Appearance
- Appearance
- Matte black above with a soft, velvety look and a glossy black underside. Pale yellowish marks line the edges of the area behind the head, and each wing cover has a large pale band across the middle.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Flowery meadows
- Woodland edges
- Range
- Native to East Asia: Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, southeastern Russia, and Mongolia, south to Indochina. Not found in the United States.
Behavior
- Diet
- Adults eat pollen and nectar; in Japan they visit mostly white or yellow flowers. Grubs feed on decaying wood and humus in the soil.
- Overwintering
- Adults survive the winter, and some live through a second winter and breed again.
Life cycle
- Larva
- The grub is milky white with a light brown head and grows in rotting wood and humus. In Japan it has one generation a year.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
More species to explore
Record what you meet and build your own collection
Your photos are kept with their date and place, and you can fill regional albums one species at a time.