Last night I stuck my nose into one of my roses and went to give it a big sniff. I jumped back a bit when I noticed three beetles in the centre of the rose. I examined the other flowers, and noticed that most of the roses had at least one beetle in the centre. Of course, I ran inside to get the camera. I took a few photos of the beetles in the roses, but most didn't turn out. To avoid stepping on the other flowers in the flowerbed, I had to stand on my tiptoes and lean out over the flowers. I couldn't actually see through the viewfinder to frame my shots.

Stepping back, I noticed that the beetles were not confined to the roses... They were pretty much attached to every other kind of flower in the bed. I managed to get a good shot or two, including this one.

These beetles are quite interesting with their iridescent color, white tufts of "fur" on their sides, and little hooks on their legs. This is another type of bug that I have never seen in western Canada. Unfortunately it's also a hungry bug. I suspect that these beetles are responsible for the chewed condition of most of my flowers.

Update: A helpful reader supplied that this is a Japanese Beetle, and that certainly appears to be the case. These beetles are well known for their destructive tendencies.