Margined Leatherwing Beetle

Here's a Margined Leatherwing Beetle I met. Generally speaking they are friends to gardeners, eating pest insects as larvae and operating as pollinators as adults (like in the picture). And even as adults, it sounds like they'll occasionally snack on very small insects like aphids.

These guys are a type of soldier beetle. Despite the name, they're not particularly militaristic; apparently some types of soldier beetles are red, and they were named after British Redcoat soldiers. The red soldier beetles probably look a bit like our fireflies, which isn't too big of a surprise since they're both beetles. Probably coincidentally with fireflies, both their larvae are considered pretty voracious predators while (generally) having mellower behavior as adults.

June 17, 2021 at the Plainsboro Preserve
Photo 141959969, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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