File:Soldier Beetles - Richmond Park, London, July 12th 2008.jpg
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Soldier Beetles - Richmond Park, London, England - Saturday July 12th 2008. The soldier beetles, or Cantharidae are relatively soft-bodied, straight sided beetles, related to the Lampyridae or firefly family, but being unable to produce light. They are cosmopolitan in distribution. One common British species is bright red, reminding people of the red coats of soldiers, hence the common name. A secondary common name is leatherwing, obtained from the texture of the wing covers. Historically, these beetles were placed in a superfamily "Cantharoidea", which has been subsumed by the superfamily Elateroidea; the name is still sometimes used as a rankless grouping, including the families Cantharidae, Drilidae, Lampyridae, Lycidae, Omalisidae, Omethidae, Phengodidae (which includes Telegeusidae), and Rhagophthalmidae. Soldier beetles are highly desired by gardeners as biological control agents of a number of pest insects. The larvae tend to be dark brown or gray, slender and wormlike with a rippled appearance due to pronounced segmentation. They consume grasshopper eggs, aphids, caterpillars and other soft bodied insects, most of which are pests. The adults are especially important predators of aphids. They supplement their diet with nectar and pollen and can be minor pollinators. Soldier beetle populations can be increased by planting good nectar- or pollen-producing plants such as Asclepias or Solidago. When you look at them vertically you can see that the soldier beetles are called that way because they really do remind one of old fashioned soldier uniforms. There are over 50 species in the Low Countries. Many species are very similar and therefore difficult to tell apart. Often you can find them sunbasking on flowers. The adults eat other insects. In some casese they hunt for prey, but most eat animals that are already dead. The larvae hunt for snails, slugs and worms on the ground, even though there are some vegetarians among them. The most common of all soldier beetles probably is the Hogweed Bonking Beetle (Above) In summer they often appear in great numbers, basking in sunshine or copulating on flowers, especially umbellifer. As the flowers of many umbellifers are whitish the beetles are very striking. Due to their reddish colours birds will leave them alone. Reaching some 7 to 10 mm in length it is a typical representative of its family. As the species also loves verges and banks it may be considered to be a real opportunist, explaining its abundancy all over Europe and the British Isles. It is an excellent species to predict a thunderstorm, for when all the animals are retreating to the backside of leaves a thunderstorm will be advancing. Do not hurry though: they take shelter many hours before the thunderstorm arrives! You can tell them apart from most family members by looking at the colouring: the entire head ans neck shields are red, the shields are dark red, except for the ends where they get darker and the legs are red, except for the feet. |
| Date | |
| Source | Need a lil lift.... |
| Author | Keven Law from Los Angeles, USA |
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This image was originally posted to Flickr by law_keven at https://www.flickr.com/photos/66164549@N00/2663678780. It was reviewed on 31 October 2012 by FlickreviewR and was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-sa-2.0. |
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| current | 14:47, 31 October 2012 | | 846 × 1,529 (70 KB) | Matanya (talk | contribs) | == {{int:filedesc}} == {{Information |Description=Highest Explore Position #115 ~ On July 14th 2008. Soldier Beetles - Richmond Park, London, England - Saturday July 12th 2008. [http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3169/2663678780_517079b6bf_b.jpg '''Click ... |
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