Sep 23, 2013
#309 - Neophyllotocus Nectar Scarabs?
Also on the Rockingham waste ground, but these guys were only on the tiny daisy-type weeds among the grass, not on the wattles. As would make sense, if they are nectar scarabs, since wattles produce more pollen than nectar.
But anyway, these beetles (usually one per flower, but two on this one and a third just leaving) seem to related to Phyllotocus - they have the long spiny legs and rough colour scheme of that genus - but they were much smaller than the genus I knew, and much MUCH hairier. The only similar beetle I've found on the Atlas of Living Australia was Neophyllotocus rostratus, but at least half the records for that species on the map there are here in Perth, which is reassuring.