Family: Scarabaeidae
Subfamily: Cetoniinae
Length: 12-16 mm
The Latin name for this species means "clothed," and indeed the pronotum as well as the underparts are richly clothed in a light brown pubescence. The pronotum is black while the elytra are brown with black irregular markings.
The first part of the common name refers to the species looking and sounding like a bumble bee when flying. The second part alludes to the beetles habit of alighting on flowers to feed. While the species seems to have catholic tastes when it comes to food plants, a Nebraska researcher reported that the Bumble Flower Beetle there was ubiquitous on wild sunflowers. She reported that the beetles gouged holes on the stem and then fed on the emerging sap.
Some authors have reported that the larvae develop in ant nests, but others reporting finding them in decaying wood and in dung.
Insects of West Virginia
