Common red soldier beetle
The common red soldier beetle is a slim, soft, orange red beetle with a black tip at the end of its wing cases, as if it dipped its bottom in ink. In summer you can see lots of them sitting on big flat flower heads. They are often found in pairs.
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Fun facts
Its body is soft instead of hard. In German it is even called the red soft beetle.
It loves flat white flower heads like cow parsley and hogweed.
It is an important pollinator for hogweed, carrying pollen from flower to flower.
The grown-up beetles live only a short time in the middle of summer.
Its babies are hunters too and catch slugs and snails at the bottom of long grass.
Most asked questions about Common red soldier beetle
?Does the red soldier beetle suck blood?
No. That is just an old nickname. It eats aphids, pollen and nectar.
?Is the red soldier beetle harmful?
No. It is harmless to people and even helps gardens by eating aphids and pollinating flowers.
?When can I see red soldier beetles?
In summer, from about June to August, sitting on flat flower heads.
Myth buster
Myth: This beetle sucks blood, which is why it is called the bloodsucker beetle.
Truth: That name is misleading. It never sucks blood. It eats aphids, pollen and nectar.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Rhagonycha fulva
- Named by
- Scopoli, 1763
- Group
- Beetles
- Family
- Cantharidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Coleoptera > Cantharidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia, North America
- Also known as
- Bloodsucker beetle
Where the facts come from
- Rhagonycha fulva (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by IES MANUEL GARCÍA BARROS A ESTRADA- PONTEVEDRA. CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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