Embrasser C'est Francais French Kissin' In The UK

Not my best pic of the day but in my view the most interesting.

I spotted a malachite beetle on some beautiful grass with graceful pendulous spikelets. I’ve been passing malachites by as I’ve photographed them many times before. They’re quite common but the grass grabbed me.

As I knelt down I saw another malachite beetle nearby and manoevred myself so that I could get them both in shot to make my pic more interesting. The smaller of the two approached the other with its antennae twitching violently. The curvaceous one twitched its antennae too and then appeared to be puckering up and kissing little beetle. It then turned and proffered its rear end to small beetle.

The male tried to mount her but she rejected him. He retreated up the grass stem for a while and then approached her again. More big kisses from her, she looked to be gobbling him up and then she stood for him. She changed her mind at the last minute.

At the third attempt, after frantic antennae waving and full-on snogging, she accepted him and they coupled briefly but unfortunately she fell off the grass stem in the frenzy. He scurried around madly looking for her and I tried to help but she was nowhere to be found. :(

I have since read that male malachite beetles produce sex pheromone rich secretions in excitators on their flanged antennae. These secretions are eaten by the female.

I tried in vain to identify the elegant grass via Google but then remembered my trusty Observer’s Book of Grasses, Sedges and Rushes. I identified it in a trice as barren brome grass.