Swollen-thighed Beetle Oedemera nobilis

Another commonly-used vernacular name for this species is Thick-legged Flower Beetle.

Males of this species are very easy to identify but I have struggled a bit more in the past with females. I've been misled by some of the comments in keys about lurida not having a clear gap between the elytra and misidentified a few lurida as nobilis. I think I've now corrected all the misidentified ones.

male Swollen thighed Beetle Oedemera nobilis, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows (Norfolk, UK), 27th May 2020

female Swollen thighed Beetle Oedemera nobilis, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows (Norfolk, UK), 13th July 2019

Although I think I've now finally worked out how to tell female nobilis from lurida, some individuals might still be tricky so I thought it was worth seeing if there are any differences in the apical sternites, used for telling lurida apart from the scarcer virescens. On virescens the apical sternite is notched, whereas it is rounded on lurida. On this nobilis it was also rounded, though perhaps more broadly rounded. I don't have any lurida to hand to check this, but I can't see the tranverse striations on my photos of lurida sternites, and these were very obvious on this nobilis. Perhaps a more obvious difference is in the shape of the apical tergite, visible behind the sternite when viewed from below. On both lurida and virescens this is notched too, but on this nobilis it is rounded. I've not checked these differences on many specimens yet so am not sure how reliable it is, but I imagine this would be a fairly consistent character? Perhaps worth noting that this nobilis was one of the latest I've seen, well after the spring peak when I see them most commonly.

female Swollen thighed Beetle Oedemera nobilis showing apical sternite (and tip of tergite behind this), Wendling Beck Environment Project (Norfolk, UK), 20th August 2025

male Swollen thighed Beetle Oedemera nobilis, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows (Norfolk, UK), 3rd June 2022

male Swollen thighed Beetle Oedemera nobilis, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows (Norfolk, UK), 15th May 2020

male Swollen thighed Beetle Oedemera nobilis, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows (Norfolk, UK), 4th June 2021

female Swollen thighed Beetle Oedemera nobilis, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows (Norfolk, UK), 4th June 2021

male Swollen thighed Beetle Oedemera nobilis, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows (Norfolk, UK), 10th July 2020

male Swollen thighed Beetle Oedemera nobilis, Brancaster golf course (Norfolk, UK), 1st June 2018

female Swollen thighed Beetle Oedemera nobilis, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows (Norfolk, UK), 20th July 2020

male Swollen thighed Beetle Oedemera nobilis, Burnham Overy Dunes (Norfolk, UK), 28th May 2016

female Swollen thighed Beetle Oedemera nobilis, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows (Norfolk, UK), 23rd August 2021

female Swollen thighed Beetle Oedemera nobilis, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows (Norfolk, UK), 3rd June 2018

second female Swollen thighed Beetle Oedemera nobilis, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows (Norfolk, UK), 3rd June 2018

female Swollen thighed Beetle Oedemera nobilis, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows (Norfolk, UK), 5th July 2019

female Swollen thighed Beetle Oedemera nobilis, Narborough (Norfolk, UK), 6th June 2015

female Swollen thighed Beetle Oedemera nobilis, Great Ryburgh (Norfolk, UK), 22nd May 2017

2x male Swollen thighed Beetles Oedemera nobilis, Sheringham (Norfolk, UK), 5th June 2004

male Swollen thighed Beetles Oedemera nobilis, North Elmham Cathedral Meadows (Norfolk, UK), 22nd May 2019

male Swollen thighed Beetle Oedemera nobilis, Sparham Pools (Norfolk, UK), 31st May 2008

male Swollen thighed Beetle Oedemera nobilis, Wendling Beck Environment Project (Norfolk, UK), 2nd June 2022

female Swollen thighed Beetle Oedemera nobilis, Wendling Beck Environment Project (Norfolk, UK), 14th May 2022

male Swollen thighed Beetle Oedemera nobilis, Wendling Beck Environment Project (Norfolk, UK), 14th May 2022

male Swollen thighed Beetle Oedemera nobilis, Wendling Beck Environment Project (Norfolk, UK), 27th June 2022

male Swollen thighed Beetle Oedemera nobilis, Burnham Overy Dunes (Norfolk, UK), 8th June 2016