Invertebrates
Noble Chafer
Gnorimus nobilis
On a hawthorn blossom beside an old cider orchard, a noble chafer gleams green and bronze, a rare beetle that depends on the rotting heart of ancient fruit trees.
Overview
The noble chafer, Gnorimus nobilis, is a Near Threatened scarab beetle of old orchards, parkland, and woodland with veteran trees across Europe. Its metallic green body and larvae in rotting wood make it a symbol of the value of ancient fruit trees.
A beetle that needs old orchards
When old orchards are grubbed up, the hollow trees in which noble chafer larvae develop disappear with them, and the beetle cannot easily colonise new plantings.
Status
Near Threatened, declining with the loss of old orchards.
Noble Chafer: common questions
Where do noble chafer larvae live?
The fat, C-shaped larvae develop in the soft, rotting heartwood inside old, hollow trees, particularly old fruit trees in orchards.
Why is the noble chafer rare?
It depends on veteran trees with decaying hollows, which take decades to form and are lost when old orchards are cleared.
How is it different from the rose chafer?
It is a similar metallic green scarab, but the noble chafer is rarer, relies on old fruit trees, and has a more coppery, flattened look.
Where is the noble chafer found?
It lives in old orchards, parkland, and woodland with veteran trees across Europe, with scattered populations in Britain.