neville park@nev@flipping.rocks

Middle-aged lady, seeing me hunched over peering into the Queen Anne's Lace (_Daucus carota_) in a garden bed at the park: "Did you find it?"

Me, in an "oh my god, it's full of stars" tone: "I found them *ALL*!"

Lady, looking at the flowers: "They're beautiful, aren't they."

Me: "I'm not sure we're talking about the same thing but YES."

#bloomscrolling #bugstodon #insects #beetles #Coleoptera #Dermestidae #ArthroBeauty

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Top-down view of a round white Queen Anne's Lace (wild carrot) flower composed of many little umbels. It is covered with dozens of little mottled brown oval beetles, varied carpet beetles (Anthrenus verbasci), feeding on nectar/pollen.
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A more side-facing view of the same flower.
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Close-up of varied carpet beetles on Queen Anne's Lace. Up close you can see they have tiny white, yellow-brown, and dark brown scales covering their bodies, forming the pattern.
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