Common red soldier beetle
Red Soldier Beetle ( Rhagonycha fulva ) mating
The Red or Red yellow Weichkäfer ( Rhagonycha fulva ) is a beetle of the family of soldier beetles ( Cantharidae ).
- 4.1 Notes and references
- 4.2 Literature
Features
Red Soldier Beetle 7 to 10 millimeters long. They are colored reddish-yellow, almost the entire body, only the rear ends of the elytra are dark colored discontinued in some animals also forward. Their antennae are long and filiform. The first two terms are reddish, the rest are brown. The legs are orange, only the beilförmigen and wide tarsi dark.
Similar Species
- Rhagonycha lutea
Occurrence
The animals are in Europe, except in the far north to Siberia widespread until in low mountain areas and very often. They live in fields, meadows and gardens, and in particular umbelliferous. They fly from May and especially July and August.
Way of life
The diurnal and nocturnal animals hunt mainly on flowers for small insects. Often one finds the animals sitting together in large numbers on umbelliferous. After quite a long lasting mating, the females from the eggs. The larvae hunt on the ground for snails and insects. After a year and several moults they pupate.
Pairing ( video 2m 32s )