Paul writes: This bright metallic coloured beetle is hard to miss when it’s out in the open. The Swollen-thighed Beetle is one of the many English names it goes by, its Latin name is Oedemera nobilis. Only the males have the swollen thighs but the female shares all the other characteristics, metallic green colour, wing cases which don’t meet over the long thin body, small head with large eyes and long antennae. It’s a great pollinator of open flowers such as cow parsley and ox-eye daisy, it will also appear in gardens looking for suitable plants. On a bright warm sunny day it can be abundant locally, in the right habitat. It’s common throughout western & southern Europe but in Britain is restricted to south & south east England. I see them quite regularly, this one was photographed near Highnam in Gloucestershire.
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