| Protaetia cuprea | |
|---|---|
| |
| Protaetia cuprea ignicollis | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Family: | Scarabaeidae |
| Genus: | Protaetia |
| Species: | P. cuprea
|
| Binomial name | |
| Protaetia cuprea (Fabricius, 1775)
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| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Protaetia cuprea, also known as the copper chafer, is a species of chafer in the family Scarabaeidae.[2] This species is also known as the rose chafer, and has a wide geographic distribution extending from Canary Islands, Portugal and Spain in the west towards Vladivostok in the Russian Far East, Mongolia, and northern China.[3] This species forages for pollen from flowers and fruits, such as apples, from trees. However, since fruit is scarce in the spring and winter, they only transition from a diet of pollen to a diet of fruits in the summer. [4] Since pollen is more rich in proteins and lipids than carbohydrates, and fruit is more rich in carbohydrates, they are able to travel longer when on a fruit diet. This is due to their increased aerobic performance when fueled by carbohydrate rich content.[4]