I found this wonderful creature in my yard (I live in the south of France) last night:
It was about 2-3cm long, with a hard carapace and wings. It also made loud hissing noises when agitated. I am curious as to what species this is, I'm quite surprised I'd never seen it before cause the beastie is quite large and last night I found it because of the noise it was making. It was upside down and hissing like a kettle.
More than the specific species' name, I am curious as to what the large antennae are for. Does their shape and size somehow increase the beetle's sensitivity to whatever stimuli these are atuned to?
Alan Boyd's comment below helped me along a bit. I seem to have found a close relative of the ten-lined June beetle (Polyphylla decemlineata) pictured below (image source)