#Rhagonycha fulva: Common red soldier beetle

[postmanpetecoluk]

Love bugs. Rhagonycha fulva: Common red soldier beetle by pete beard Via Flickr: The common red soldier beetle is also known as the 'bloodsucker' for its striking red appearance, but it is harmless. It is a beneficial garden insect as the adults eat aphids, and the larvae eat other pests.

[unkn0wnvariable]

Feeding Soldier Beetle

A common red soldier beetle feeding on fennel flowers, in Twywell Gullet.

[lunelfy]

Rhagonycha Fulva ;

Common red soldier beetle ♥

[heather-rajendran]

Common red soldier beetles (Rhagonycha fulva) photos I took on Thursday, West Yorkshire, UK

[pogomcl]

Common Red Soldier Beetle, Rhagonycha fulva Canon 7D EFS 60 2.8 f/4 1/320 iso 200 Srbsko, Czech Republic 7/11/2019

[musicandgallery]

Rhagonycha fulva - Common Red Soldier Beetle

[lindamarieansonsnaps]

[flowerishness]

Foeniculum vulgare (Fennel) and Rhagonycha fulva (Red Soldier beetle)

Fennel is a commonly grown garden herb originally from coastal Mediterranean habitats. It stands to reason that a plant that evolves in a particular ecosystem will find a happiness in any similar ecosystem, no matter how far from home. This particular garden escapee is enjoying a view of the pier at White Rock on the shores of the mighty Pacific Ocean. It is now found in wildland/urban interface areas in Asia and North America and is considered invasive in Australia.

The Red Soldier beetle is another common European import. Sometimes called in England, ‘the hogweed bonking beetle’, it seems to spend most of it’s short life having sex. This couple don’t seem to realize that Flowerishness is a family-friendly blog. Hey you two - get a room!

[regnum-plantae]

Cirsium arvense, Asteraceae

A very common sight for anyone living in cool, temperate areas of the northern hemisphere, creeping thistle, generally known as Canada thistle in North America, is ubiquitously considered a noxious weed with the potential to become quickly invasive, spreading rapidly through lateral rhizomes. Similarly to C. vulgaris, the common thistle much celebrated here in Scotland, its roots, stems and leaves are edible, but rather bland and not really worth taking the time to remove all the spines. 

However, the plant is of great value to wildlife, as its leaves, nectar and seeds, often available in large quantities due to its tendency to form impressive clonal colonies, are fundamental for the sustenance of a variety of creatures. I couldn’t take good photos of all of them, but in the ten minutes I spent observing two different colonies I spotted six different species between bees and bumblebees and dozens of couples of common red soldier beetle (Rhagonycha fulva) which love to mate on thistles. 

[amateurwildlifephotos]

Rhagonycha fulva (Common red soldier beetle)

Cornwall, England, July 2016

IUCN: Least concern

[susanvale]

My July 2020 In Pictures. (Click on a picture for a close-up & see descriptions 1-10 below.)

1. Wednesday 1st July 2020 at 07:40.  Nasturtium leaves (Tropaelum majus), at home, Hythe, Hampshire.

2. Sunday 5th July 2020 at 17:04.  Pelargonium, at home, Hythe, Hampshire.

3. Tuesday 7th July 2020 at 09:14.  Seven-spot ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata), The Grove Garden, Hythe, Hampshire.

4. Saturday 11th July 2020 at 09:10.  Garden anemone / poppy anemone (Anemone coronaria), Hythe, Hampshire.

5. Sunday 12th July 2020 at 17:28.  Sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus), at home, Hythe, Hampshire.

6. Thursday 16th July 2020 at 15:15.  Lords and ladies (Arum maculatum), Pylewell Road, Hythe, Hampshire.

7. Monday 20th July 2020 at 09:39.  Common red soldier beetle (Rhagonycha fulva), Hythe Marina, Hampshire.

8. Monday 20th July 2020 at 10:14.  Wild carrot (Daucus carota), Hythe Marina, Hampshire.

9. Monday 20th July 2020 at 10:23.  Common green grasshopper (Omocestus viridulus), Hythe Marina, Hampshire.

10. Tuesday 21st July 2020 at 11:03.  Begonias, High Street, Hythe, Hampshire.

To read about My July 2020 In Pictures, click on the link below:-http://susanvale.blogspot.com/2020/07/my-july-2020-in-pictures.html

To read about Nasturtiums (Tropaelum majus), click on the link below:-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropaeolum

To read about Seven-spot ladybirds (Coccinella septempunctata), click on the link:- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coccinella_septempunctata

To read about the Garden anemone (Anemone coronaria), click on the link:- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anemone_coronaria

To read about Sweet peas (Lathyrus odoratus), click on the link below:-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_pea

To read about Lords and ladies (Arum maculatum), click on the link:- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arum_maculatum

To read about Common red soldier beetles (Rhagonycha fulva), click on the link:- https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/invertebrates/beetles/common-red-soldier-beetle

To read about Wild carrots (Daucus carota), click on the link below:-https://www.plantlife.org.uk/uk/discover-wild-plants-nature/plant-fungi-species/wild-carrot

To read about the Common green grasshopper (Omocestus viridulus), click on the link:- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omocestus_viridulus

To read about Hythe, Hampshire, click on the link below:-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hythe,_Hampshire

[saatkontor]

Red Soldier Beetle, Hogweed Bonking Beetle, Roter Weichkäfer (Rhagonycha fulva) on Common Hogweed, Cow Parsnip / Wiesen-Bärenklau (Heracleum sphondylium)

[unkn0wnvariable]

Common Red Soldier Beetle

A common red soldier beetle climbing up a grass stem, in Southwick Wood.

[cydrhos]

Some years ago my county council (for those of you who live in forn parts, UK county councils are responsible, among other things like charging a bloody fortune for leaving streets with no light and refusing to collect domestic refuse and failing to educate our children, for maintenance of public highways) refused adamantly to repair a trunk road which was sliding inexorably into the adjacent field. From the late eighties into the early naughties -- yes, more than ten years -- a set of 'temporary' traffic lights, which annoyed the living bejaebers out of the local residents, most of whom had to commute that way twice every day, and the rest of us who only went that way once in a blue moon, reduced the road to a single, congested carriageway. The reason? A colony of red ants had been found by the highways surveyor and in the UK red ants were protected by law on account of their scarcity. Some years ago, the road was mended and both lanes opened again. I have a strong suspicion that one dark night a can or two of local insecticide ensured that red ants became rather scarcer. Ants. Ants for heaven's sake. Ants.

Whatever... yesterday I enjoyed some evening sunshine, tramping the dessicated Mid-Welsh desert, exploring an old lead mine (had the most revolting-looking stalactite) and picking up a tick, and found this couple doing what comes naturally on warm summer evenings.

Rhagonycha fulva, common red soldier beetle, on some species of Cirsium. What species I have no idea. It's a thistle; they hurt when you sit on them.

Like ants.

[cunabula27]

Torilis japonica (Japanese hedge parsley, erect hedgeparsley or upright hedge-parsley), a plant in the carrot family. T. japonica has potential to fight several cancers through a terpene it produces called Torilin, extracted from its fruits. There are also a couple of common red soldier beetles in the shot. Erm... yeah. Rhagonycha fulva, misleadingly known as bloodsucker beetles, are apparently popularly known in England as the Hogweed Bonking Beetles. Can't think why. '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.' Oh, that would be why. There were a lot of them engaged in special cuddles near these two. Moving swiftly on. https://www.instagram.com/p/CCpuZmRnsT3/?igshid=nl4xnv16e4z7

[pogomcl]

Mating Common Red Soldier Beetles, Rhagonycha fulva Canon 7D EFS 60 2.8 f/4 1/320 iso: 200 Prague, Czech Republic 7/15/2021