coleopteran and Calochortus careening...

   
in the wind, yesterday:

 

Perusing bugguide.net I find this creature who looks similar, and was found crawling around inside California poppies, so the closest option so far is some relative of Amartus tinctus. That means possibly a member of the family Kateretidae, the short-winged flower beetles. I find the name of that family very encouraging!

However, I can't really clearly see my guy's antennae, and can certainly see 3 of what I expect are four pointy things by it's head, and cannot see its eyes.

Thoughts, oh entomologically-gifted folks?!?

Then Ted MacRae (see comments) suggests Hoplia genus (from within scarab beetles). 

Here's a different close up which seems to support Ted McRae's thoughts re: Hoplia genus (see comments). Check out the hook-like leg ends.

Woah! I just noticed if you click on the picture above, you can see a TINY bug on the petal above our beetle.

A look inside what I believe is the redundantly named butterfly mariposa lily (Calochortus venustus):

Zoom in on amazingly complex center. The stigma is amazingly hard to see given how close we are, but it's that Mercedes-symbol-shaped thing (minus the circle) just above the center. The six anthers are much easer to see--look like white, solid feathers. The anthers are propped up on wide, flat-looking filaments that are PINK! Never saw that before...

If you look at this species at CalPhotos, the variation in pigment is CRAZY. From super pink, deep yellow, to white for the fat part of the petals.

So, so much life and complexity in such a small space.

biobabbler