Species Rhagonycha fulva - Common Red Soldier Beetle

Hogweed Bonking Beetle (why? - see photo)

body length 7-10 mm; female larger than male

Adult: elytra orange basally, shading to brown distally, and terminating in black tips; head and pronotum orangish-red, pronotum as wide as elytra posteriorly, narrower anteriorly; antennae long, black, except for basal segment; tip of abdomen extends slightly beyond elytra; underside orangish-red; femora orangish-red, tibiae slightly darker, tarsi blackish

well-established in British Columbia and Quebec [Pat Bouchard]; recently recorded in Ontario from BugGuide photos here and here

native to Eurasia; introduced to North America some time ago

fields, meadows, hedgerows; adults often found on flowerheads of herbaceous plants during the day

adults in June and July

adults feed on small insects that visit flowers

larvae feed on snails, slugs, and ground-dwelling insects

one generation per year; overwinters as a larva

very common and widespread in Europe, with many photos on the Internet

(examples: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

page creation based on Pat Bouchard's identification of this image

other species of Rhagonycha lack black-tipped elytra and/or other color and size characteristics described above

the images shown from Quebec here are of this species, not Rhagonycha excavata, which is smaller (5-6 mm) and has black elytra

image of adult in flight (R. Rientjes, Germany)

images of adult, habitat, food items of adults and larvae (J.K. Lindsey, U. of Maastricht, Netherlands)

live adult images plus common name reference [Common Red Soldier Beetle] and brief overview (wikipedia.org)

live adult image by Roger Key, plus common name reference [Common Red Soldier Beetle] and brief overview (English Nature, plantpress.com, UK)

narrated video of adults crawling on flowers (biocrawler.com, Germany)

common name reference [Hogweed Bonking Beetle] (United Nations Environmental Program)