Common name
Tumbling flower beetles
Number of species
17
Size Range
2-9mm
Tarsal formula
5-5-4
Images:
Description
The 2012 checklist gives 17 British species of Mordellidae, but this is a taxonomically-confused group, with several recent descriptions and synonomisations from the British fauna. As a group they are distinctive: oval-elongate, pubescent brown or black beetles, 2-9mm long, with an extended, elongate pygidium reminiscent of a sting. Adults are characteristically found curled in a c-shape on flowers, where they feed on pollen. When disturbed, their general escape mechanism is to skip about and tumble from the flowers, hence their vernacular name.