Spotting chafers

We’re walking in the heat through pungent herbs, surrounded by butterflies and day-flying moths with Lesser Kestrels overhead. We’re in Matera in the south of Italy.

I particularly adore these large and very pale long-stalked dandelion-like flowers. I’ve still not identified them:

Matera - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

I find them ever-so-slightly hypnotic:

Matera - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

One has a Mediterranean Spotted Chafer Oxythyrea funesta on it:

Mediterranean Spotted Chafers - Matera - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

We saw them here last year:

Here’s another:

Mediterranean Spotted Chafers - Matera - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

They are busy everywhere here, clinging to flowers:

Mediterranean Spotted Chafers - Matera - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

I don’t think I’ll be doing much flower photography today. It’ll be beetle photography instead:

Mediterranean Spotted Chafers - Matera - The Hall of Einar - photograph (c) David Bailey (not the)

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