A daisy attracted this yellow velvet long-horned beetle -Lepturobosca chrysocoma. You can identify the velvet long-horned beetle by their very dense, appressed, metallic golden pubescence is distinctive, they are usually about 10-20mm in size. The huge adults have a spiny neck and can fly, they are frequently seen feeding on flowers such as this daisy. Pollination is allowed, as their hairy coats pick up pollen which is then transferred to the other flowers as they feed. Male longhorn beetles live for approximately 50 days once they are fully hatched and the female longhorn beetles live for around 66 days. The beetle is native to China and the Korean Peninsula and is in the wood-boring beetle family Cerambycidae making them an invasive species to Canada. /SANDRA JAMES
The Common blue damselfly is our most common damselfly and can be found around almost any water body, or away from breeding sites in grassland and woodland. They are not the same insect as a dragonfly, but are related. Both belong to the Odonata order, but dragonflies fall into the Anisoptera suborder, while damselflies belong to the Zygoptera suborder. Zygoptera (damselflies) means “equal winged,” while Anisoptera (dragonflies) means “unequal winged.” Damselflies have wings that are both the same size and shape, which taper where they attach to the body, however dragonflies have different shaped fore and hind wings. Dragonflies tend to have a more plain appearance as their hind wings are much broader and do not taper so much where they attach to the body. Another difference is the damselfly is smaller with its body generally ranging around one and a half to two inches while that of the dragonfly is typically longer than two inches. /SANDRA JAMES
