Soldier

Cantharis rustica

For weeks now, the garden has been awash with Common Red Soldier Beetles. But last month, we found one of their less common relatives patrolling the pocket meadow – a Rustic Soldier Beetle (Cantharis rustica), also sometimes known as the Rustic Sailor Beetle. It's a predator, hunting for smaller invertebrates on flowers in open woodland, arable fields, parks, gardens and grasslands. This is one of the larger soldier beetles, measuring in at 9-12.5 mm (just under half an inch). The black heart-shaped spot on its red pronotum (the part of the beetle just behind its head) is distinctive. Fine, dense hairs coat its black elytra (the hard cases that cover its wings) and its legs are blackish with red femoras (the part of the legs closest to the body). Despite the fact that we seldom see it here, it's widespread across south-eastern England, becoming less so the further north you go; it's uncommon in Scotland. Elsewhere in the world, it occurs across Europe to central Russia. Its larvae develop in leaf litter, munching small invertebrates, from late summer through to spring. They pupate in March and April, emerging as adults from mid-May through early July.