Rosemary's Beetle

I went to my sister's in Burnham-on-Crouch today to discuss a family business issue. Thankfully we soon sorted that.

She had been helping a friend in his garden and brought home a bunch of herbs, together with a couple of beetles that she had saved for me knowing that I would be interested. I togged them happily scampering over her arm but have posted the above, which could be sharper, because it shows the beautiful colouring best.

I've never photographed one before but immediately identified them as rosemary beetles and I think I'm correct. They're interlopers from southern Europe and became established pests in Britain in the 1990s.

I've just had another close encounter with an insect, this time with a hornet in our laundry room, Jazzy's bedroom. I would have dearly loved to have captured it in close-up but it was buzzing alarmingly and bashing itself against the wall. I slid the door sharpish when it threatened to enter the house, not wanting it to share my bedroom. In the end it bumbled out of the open window.