What is this insect on my flower?
July 29, 2010 9:18 AM   Subscribe

What is this insect sitting on my flower? There are four of them that I can see on the plant. I have a cat that goes in the backyard, can these infest him?
posted by BuddhaInABucket to Home & Garden (9 answers total)
 
Pretty hard to see in that photo, even at original size, but my hunch is that perhaps it has 8 legs and not 6?
posted by mcstayinskool at 9:25 AM on July 29, 2010


I'm guessing a beetle of some sort. The picture makes it hard to be sure. It looks very much like this Enigmatic Scarab.

I wouldn't worry about the cat.
posted by jquinby at 9:29 AM on July 29, 2010


...though it could also be one of these Snout and Bark Beetles.

I love beetles.
posted by jquinby at 9:32 AM on July 29, 2010


Best answer: This one looks like a very good candidate.
posted by jquinby at 9:37 AM on July 29, 2010


Looks almost like a weevil of some sort. Pretty confident it's not a cat-bothering type of insect, though.
posted by Ys at 10:16 AM on July 29, 2010


I feel like it's a true bug of some sort (hemiptera), but it's hard to tell from the picture. Here's a page with true bugs from California (assuming that's your location). I'm leaning toward a stink bug right now.
posted by Think_Long at 10:42 AM on July 29, 2010


I have to agree with weevil as my best guess (need a better picture). Will not infest your cat.
posted by bolognius maximus at 10:55 AM on July 29, 2010


Response by poster: It's definitely that snout and bark beetle! Very unusual, the way they were all gathered around the flowers that way. Thanks!
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 11:50 AM on July 29, 2010


I would guess an alfalfa weevil, myself (hypera postica). They like to hang around flowers as well as alfalfa.

I can't see the markings very clearly, though, so I'm not sure.
posted by Gneisskate at 6:50 PM on July 29, 2010


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