Common red soldier beetle
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| Rhagonycha fulva Scop. 1763 |
The common red soldier beetle, Rhagonycha fulva, is a species of soldier beetle (Cantharidae).
The common red soldier beetle will grow up to a centimetre. Nearly all their body is coloured red yellowish. Only the last bit of the elytra is black. The body is flat and elongated. The chitin armour is very soft, resulting in the German name of this species as Weichkäfer (meaning "soft beetle"). The black thread-like antennae are also relatively long. The equally long legs have an orange colour, only at the end they become notably darker.
This beetle is very common within within Europe and Anatolia. One will find it very often within bushes or on gras and fields.
The animals are active during the daylight hours where they will hunt mostly for small insects on top of flowers.
Fairly often one will find many of these animals on Apiaceae or Asteraceae like thistles.
After the fairly extensive coopulation the females will lay her eggs. The larvae are soil-dwellers which hunt for snails and insects. After a year and several moults the larvae will pupate and then emerge as fully grown beetles.
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