Tropinota hirta
A rather small beetle with a stout body, it is black in color, with white spots on the elytra and the abdomen. Its entire body is covered with tiny white hairs that rub off over time, so that older specimens lose their “down”. The adult beetle visits the flowers of a broad range of plant species (from such genera as leucanthemum, cirsium, etc.) to feed on their pollen. It hibernates in its imago stage in the soil, from which it emerges around the second half of April.
