Common Red Soldier Beetle

Rhagonycha fulva

Common & widespread throughout Britain in the Summer between June and August.

Its antennae are black, occasionally the first segment is orange.

The 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 Roter Weichkäfer (meaning "red soft beetle").

Adults feed on aphids, and eat pollen and nectar.

Larvae prey on ground-dwelling invertebrates, such as slugs and snails, and live at the base of long grasses.