Species Malachius aeneus - Scarlet Malachite Beetle

body length 5-7 mm

Adult: black and red (black areas have greenish sheen in good light); face pale yellow or bone colored; top of head black; pronotum black with small red patch at anterior lateral corners; elytra red with basal triangular black strip along inner margin, tapering to a point about two-thirds distance from base; abdomen black with thin white band at base of each segment, and pointed tip extending beyond elytra; legs and antennae black

across southern Canada and northern United States, south in the east to at least North Carolina, south in the west to Oregon

also occurs in Europe, western Asia, and the Middle East

introduced to North America (no info available on date or location)

weedy fields and meadows; adults often found on flowers of herbaceous plants

adults present in May and June

adults may feed on flower-visiting insects and/or pollen

larvae are presumably predeacous on immature invertebrates

In 2005, Buglife, a UK charitable organization devoted to the conservation of invertebrates, lauched the Scarlet Malachite Beetle Project, requesting members of the general public to report sightings of Malachius aeneus, whose numbers have declined in England in recent years. A number of clubs and groups (examples: 1, 2, 3) have joined the project, which has generated a good response and involvement from the public, and has helped to raise awareness of invertebrate conservation issues in general.

Malachius aeneus was described in 1758 by Linnaeus, who originally placed it in the genus Cantharis. Fauna Europaea places this species in the family Malachiidae.

The Checklist of Beetles of Canada and Alaska (referenced below) states that M. aeneus "...causes considerable damage to developing wheat in the Prairie Provinces." and yet the same document does not list the species as occurring in Manitoba or Saskatchewan.

Anthocomus bipunctatus is smaller, lacks small red patch at anterior lateral corners of pronotum, and has large black patch or band across elytra about two-thirds distance from base

pinned adult images (Insects of Quebec)

live adult image (R.S. Key, Beetles and Coleopterists, Russia)

distribution in Canada; PDF doc list of provinces (D.E. Bright, Melyridae; Checklist of Beetles of Canada and Alaska)

presence in North Carolina; list 21 pinned specimens, including locally collected specimens (North Carolina State U.)

common name reference and information on England's "Scarlet Malachite Beetle Project" (Buglife, UK, buglife.org)