9. Thick-legged flower beetle (Oedemera nobilis)
Two male thick-legged flower beetles crawling over a purple flower
The thick-legged flower beetle is bright metallic green and up to 10mm long © Jacques Vanni/ Shutterstock.com
This eye-catching beetle has large bulges on the males' femora, or thighs, and is also known as the swollen-thighed beetle.
Thick-legged flower beetles can be seen from April to September in gardens, flower meadows and waste ground. They are widespread from The Wash and North Wales down to southern England.
Like many beetles, they are excellent pollinators - doing the job as they move from flower to flower feeding on the pollen of large open flowers like poppies, roses, cornflowers and ox-eye daisies.