''Trichius fasciatus'', the Eurasian bee beetle, is a

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

species belonging to the family

Scarabaeidae The family Scarabaeidae, as currently defined, consists of over 30,000 species of beetles worldwide; they are often called scarabs or scarab beetles. The classification of this family has undergone significant change in recent years. Several sub ...

, subfamily

Cetoniinae Flower chafers are a group of scarab beetles, comprising the subfamily Cetoniinae. Many species are diurnal and visit flowers for pollen and nectar, or to browse on the petals. Some species also feed on fruit. The group is also called fruit ...

Varieties

* ''Trichius fasciatus'' var. ''dubius'' Mulsant * ''Trichius fasciatus'' var. ''interruptus'' Mulsant

Description

These beetles are about 10 millimeters long. Head and pronotum are black, while the elytra are yellowish, crossed by a few black bands. The first black band reaches the scutellum. The sides of the chest and the back of the abdomen are covered with a white pubescence, hence the popular name " Bee beetle" for '' Trichius'' species. Adults can be encountered from May through July feeding on petals of a variety of flowers (''

Thymus The thymus is a specialized primary lymphoid organ of the immune system. Within the thymus, thymus cell lymphocytes or ''T cells'' mature. T cells are critical to the adaptive immune system, where the body adapts to specific foreign invaders. ...

'', ''

Rosa Rosa or De Rosa may refer to: People *Rosa (given name) * Rosa (surname) * Santa Rosa (female given name from Latin-a latinized variant of Rose) Places * 223 Rosa, an asteroid *Rosa, Alabama, a town, United States * Rosa, Germany, in Thuringia, ...

'', etc.).

Distribution

This beetle is present in most of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

and in the eastern

Palearctic realm The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sib ...

Gallery

File:Cetoniidae - Trichius fasciatus-1.jpg, Trichius fasciatus, mating couple File:Jborg Trichius fasciatus 1.jpg, Trichius fasciatus, back File:Jborg Trichius fasciatus 2.jpg, Trichius fasciatus, head Bee beetle (Trichius fasciatus) Estonia.jpg

External links

Biolib

Fauna europaea

Cetoniinae Beetles of Europe Beetles described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Cetoniinae-stub