Common Red Soldier Beetle
Rhagonycha fulva
The adult is a soft-bodied orange-red beetle often seen on umbellifer flowers, meadows, hedgerows, and garden plants in summer. It feeds on pollen and nectar but also catches small insects, using its jaws at close range. Adults fly readily between flowers and are commonly seen mating in the open. The bright colouration helps advertise that it is distasteful to many predators.
- Type
- Wing
- Conservation status
- NE
Growth chain
- ?
- ?
- Common Red Soldier Beetle