Thick-legged Flower Beetle

Oedemera nobilis belongs to Oedemeridae and is also called the Swollen-thighed Beetle or False Oil Beetle. [1][2]

Both sexes are bright metallic green, with a slender body and long antennae. The wing covers narrow towards their tips, leaving an expanding central gap over the hind wings. Males have greatly enlarged hind femora; females have much slimmer hind legs. [1]

British records include southern England. In the Cambridge study, adults were collected from flowers at Girton between late May and late June in 2016–2019. [2][1]

Larvae develop within dead plant stems. [2]

Adults in the Girton collection fed on pollen from white and yellow Asteraceae flowers. [1]

During the recorded mating interactions, males mounted females and encircled the abdomen with both hind legs. Femora and tibiae formed a clamp that maintained contact during the encounter. [1]

The examined male hind femora had 38 times the volume of female hind femora. Despite this enlargement, the filmed take-offs were generated chiefly by wingbeats; the hind legs supplied little or no propulsion. [1]

The accepted species authority is Scopoli, 1763. [2]

Keep the enclosure closed and display it in indirect light, away from heat and damp conditions. Handle the frame by its edges and clean only its exterior according to the maker’s instructions.