Beetles
Coccinella septempunctata |
Coleoptera is the largest taxonomic order of insects. Adults visiting flowers feed mainly on pollen but they may eat other flowering parts damaging them, i.e., they are florivores. They frequently land on flowers searching for mates or night shelter. Beetles are ectothermic with narrow day and seasonal activity periods. Flying ability is widely variable among species but we have frequently observed them moving among contiguous flowers walking, suggesting that they are not very efficient cross-pollinators.
The most characteristic families of floral visitors observed were Buprestidae, Dasytidae, Dermestidae, Malachidae and Nitidulidae, among others.