Flying African flower chafer

Flower chafer beetles, of which many species exist in Italy as well, though smaller in size compared to exotic ones, are well adapted to the flight, contrary to most other beetles.
In the course of evolution, the ability to fly was developed only by four groups of animals: pterosaurs, birds, bats and, unique among invertebrates, insects, which were the first of all to conquer the air. Insects are also the only animals that developed two pairs of wings instead of just one. However, in some of them, among which the beetles, the first pair is modified into rigid structures (elytrae) that serve as protection of the second.