Common soft beetle

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Common soft beetle
Common soft beetle (Cantharis fusca)

Common soft beetle ( Cantharis fusca )

Systematics
Family : Soft beetle (Cantharidae)
Subfamily : Cantharinae
Tribe : Cantharini
Genre : Cantharis
Subgenus : Cantharis
Type : Common soft beetle
Scientific name
Cantharis fusca
Linnaeus , 1758
Common soft beetle ( Cantharis fusca ) mating

The common soft beetle ( Cantharis fusca ) is a beetle from the family of the soft beetles (Cantharidae).

Cantharis fusca in copula

features

Common soft beetles grow to be 11 to 15 millimeters long and have an elongated body. Their wings are slightly hairy and black, the thorax is orange-red and has a black spot in the middle that touches the edge of the pronotum in front. The front part of the head is orange-red, the abdomen is bright orange. The antennae are long and thread-like and black except for the first limbs, which are dark red. The legs are also colored red-orange on the inside.

Similar species

Occurrence

The bugs are in Europe very widespread, they are missing in the far north. They are often found in bushes, on the edges of forests and also on meadows and fields up to a height of about 1,000 meters. They fly from May to June.

Way of life

The diurnal animals hunt for small insects on plants , but they also eat dead insects. Occasionally they also feed on young plant shoots. The larvae have black hair and hunt small insects and snails on the ground . They are very cold-resistant and even crawl around on snow on mild winter days. After a few moults, they pupate.

literature

  • Harde, Severa: Der Kosmos Käferführer, The Central European Beetles , Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-440-06959-1
  • Jiři Zahradnik, Irmgard Jung, Dieter Jung et al .: Käfer Central and Northwestern Europe , Parey Berlin 1985, ISBN 3-490-27118-1

Web links

Commons : Common soft beetle ( Cantharis fusca )  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files