Flying beetles.

As we are now in May, you might start to see these beetles rattling towards you with their erratic flight in your garden.

These are Cockchafers or mostly known as May Bugs. They spend most of their life in the larvae stage living in the soil and feeding on plant roots. You may have dug them up when turning the soil or lifting potatoes and can be identified as large white grubs. They stay in the ground in this stage for 3-4 years before early autumn pupating into an adult then overwintering in the ground before emerging in late April and only living for approximately 6 weeks as a fully developed adult. As Adults they feed on oak leaves and cereals and they are a favourite food of corvids and other birds.

.... They are also my completely irrational fear! 😮