''Rhagonycha fulva'', the common red soldier beetle, also misleadingly known as the bloodsucker beetle, and popularly known in England as the hogweed bonking beetle is a species of

soldier beetle The soldier beetles (Cantharidae) are relatively soft-bodied, straight-sided beetles. They are cosmopolitan in distribution. One of the first described species has a color pattern reminiscent of the red coats of early British soldiers, hence the ...

(Cantharidae).

Taxonomy

''Rhagonycha fulva'' was first described by

Giovanni Antonio Scopoli Giovanni Antonio Scopoli (sometimes Latinisation of names, Latinized as Johannes Antonius Scopolius) (3 June 1723 – 8 May 1788) was an Italian physician and natural history, naturalist. His biographer Otto Guglia named him the "first anational ...

in 1763 in ''

Entomologia Carniolica ' is a Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic work by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli, published in Vienna in 1763. As well as describing hundreds of new species, ' contained observations on the species' biology, including the first published account of queen bee ...

'' as ''Cantharis fulva''.

Description

''Rhagonycha fulva'' measures in length. Its antennae are black, occasionally the first segment is orange. The head and pronotum are orange and shiny, with fine pubescence visible on the head. The shape of the pronotum is variable, but it narrows towards the head. The

elytra An elytron (; ; , ) is a modified, hardened forewing of beetles (Coleoptera), though a few of the true bugs (Hemiptera) such as the family Schizopteridae are extremely similar; in true bugs, the forewings are called hemelytra (sometimes alterna ...

cover the wings and most of the abdomen and are a dark, shiny red in colour, and terminate in a clearly visible black patch on the apical end - this is one of their key identifying features. Its femora and tibiae are orange, but the tarsi are black; the third segment of the tarsi is simple rather than bilobed. All soldier beetles are soft-bodied, resulting in the German name of this species as ' (meaning "Red, soft beetle").

Distribution

This beetle is very common in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

. Introduced to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, it is well established in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

and

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

and recently recorded in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Life cycle

Adults feed on aphids, and also eat pollen and nectar. Larvae prey on ground-dwelling invertebrates, such as slugs and snails, and live at the base of long grasses. The adults, which are active between the months of June and August, spend much of their short lives mating and can often be seen in pairs.

Behaviour

''Rhagonycha fulva'' is commonly found on open-structured flowers and can be spotted in grassland, woodland, along hedgerows and in parks and gardens, often on flower species such as ''

Anthriscus sylvestris ''Anthriscus sylvestris'', known as cow parsley, wild chervil, wild beaked parsley, Queen Anne's lace or keck, is a herbaceous biennial or short-lived perennial plant in the family Apiaceae (Umbelliferae), genus ''Anthriscus''. It is also some ...

'' (Cow Parsley) and others of the genus '' Heracleum'' (Hogweed) and the family

Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

during the summer. ''R. fulva'' is a significant pollinator of two species of Hogweed, ''

Heracleum sphondylium ''Heracleum sphondylium'', commonly known as hogweed, common hogweed or cow parsnip, is a herbaceous perennial or biennial plant, in the umbelliferous family Apiaceae that includes fennel, cow parsley, ground elder and giant hogweed. It is nat ...

'', and '' H. mantegazzianum''.

Gallery

File:Cantharidae - Rhagonycha fulva-002.JPG, ''R. fulva''. Side view File:Rhagonycha fulva01.jpg, Take off File:Cantharidae - Rhagonycha fulva (mating).JPG, Mating season File:Rhagonycha.fulva.couple.2.jpg, Mating on thistle File:By LaurensPhotography.jpg, Common red soldier beetle on leaf File:Rhagonycha fulva predating Tyria jacobeae 1.jpg, ''Rhagonycha fulva'' predating on ''Tyria jacobeae'' File:Rhagonycha fulva predating Tyria jacobeae 2.jpg, ''Rhagonycha fulva'' predating on ''Tyria jacobeae''

References

External links

Common red soldier beetle at English NatureNarrated Video about the common red soldier beetle
{{Taxonbar, from=Q386268 Cantharidae Beetles described in 1763 Beetles of Asia Beetles of Europe Beetles of North America Articles containing video clips Taxa named by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli