chafer beetle

Hand-with-beetle3.jpg

Hand-with-beetle2.jpg

After scanning a moth and a fly, along with a comment about scarabs, I remembered another insect, a chafer beetle perfectly preserved in resin, a paperweight I think. it was given to me as a gift many years ago. Of course I had to scan this too. I started with just the object but the resin has scratches and imperfections so finally I went back to my technique of ‘hand with object’ with much better success. Beautiful beetle, isn’t it?

Besides thoughts of ancient Egyptian scarabs, which are actually dung beetles, I’m reminded that the Greater Vancouver area has a serious chafer beetle infestation destroying many lawns, including ours. I think our beetle is the brown European one rather than this gorgeous green. The grubs root under the turf, then raccoons, skunks and some birds dig up the patches in search of tasty meals. I must remember to buy and apply some nematodes on it this summer (I forgot at the recommended time last year).

So that’s the story of a beauty and a beast!

March 24, 2013 in Human, Nature, Photoworks by Marja-Leena