My Son has Gold in his Hand, Pt. 2 - _TNY_7276
Chafers are known as "guldbaggar" in Swedish, meaning "gold beetles". This is a green rose chafer (Cetonia aurata) and it is typically metallic green in colour which kind of makes you wonder why they're called "gold beetles", but some specimens, like this one in my son's hand near Åva-Stensjödal in Tyresta National Park certainly had a paintjob that matched the name!
One cool thing about the colouration is that the metallic green of the beetle is created structurally, caused by the reflection of mostly circularly polarised light. Like other scarabs this is left circularly polarised and when viewed through a right circular polariser, the beetle appears to be colorless.
Part 1 (a closeup on just the beetle) here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/50645510238/
My Son has Gold in his Hand, Pt. 2 - _TNY_7276
Chafers are known as "guldbaggar" in Swedish, meaning "gold beetles". This is a green rose chafer (Cetonia aurata) and it is typically metallic green in colour which kind of makes you wonder why they're called "gold beetles", but some specimens, like this one in my son's hand near Åva-Stensjödal in Tyresta National Park certainly had a paintjob that matched the name!
One cool thing about the colouration is that the metallic green of the beetle is created structurally, caused by the reflection of mostly circularly polarised light. Like other scarabs this is left circularly polarised and when viewed through a right circular polariser, the beetle appears to be colorless.
Part 1 (a closeup on just the beetle) here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/50645510238/