Found a buddy to walk home with today! :)

Warm and humid day. Went for a walk to a hardware store near me. Whenever I'm out in nature (which includes Jungles such as the Concrete Jungle) I glance around at foliage, fauna, and anything else that appeases me (don't we all?).

Today, I found a beautiful Popillia japonica on the sidewalk, just asking for a squishing. Why else would he be there? Sensing that he (or she) didn't really plan for the inevitable, I scooped him up, and placed on the back of my hand for the 15 minute walk home. We promptly thereafter enjoyed a nice photoshoot together.



Most of the pictures with flash didn't turn out, but in the first panel, you can see the reflection of my hand, lol.

Upon search for this little guys Genus/species, I've discovered they are a pest of about 200 plants, including birch trees, and almost any fruiting plant. They've been in Canada since at least 1939, but I'm wondering if I should keep or release him. He's sitting on a leaf of baby spinach right now and looks much more active, despite not eating any of it. Any ideas on gender, and any food items he'd like to have?

Anyway, just thought I'd share with the community! Enjoy!

PS: Smaller than my pinkie fingernail. Tiny indeed!

They are so beautiful, it's a real shame how destructive they are. I'm sure gardeners wouldn't mind if you'd like to keep it and any of its friends, so long as they didn't breed...
I don't know how much sexual dimorphism they have, I think males are a tad smaller than females.

Tenodera said:

They are so beautiful, it's a real shame how destructive they are. I'm sure gardeners wouldn't mind if you'd like to keep it and any of its friends, so long as they didn't breed...
I don't know how much sexual dimorphism they have, I think males are a tad smaller than females.

Click to expand...

I've already released him/her, since I didn't think I had anything worthwhile to feed it.... though now, it'll find something inappropriate to eat. This guy was so small! Prolly a good chance it was male. He climbed all over the spinach leaf, but did not seem even slightly interested in eating.