Checkered Beetle

Description:

The Checkered Beetle is a small beetle having a body about three times longer than wide. Red abdomen. The remaining parts of the body are black. Elytra colorful: 1st quarter red except the shoulder corners which are black. Then it is black with white markings. A first white thin cross stripe is located just after the red area. This stripe is sometimes reduced to a few white patches. A second larger white stripe crosses the last third of the elytra.

Habitat:

Spotted in my house at Sykies (Thessaloniki, Greece) near the suburban forest Seih-Sou.

Notes:

Predaceous on wood-boring or wood-inhabiting beetles, especially bark beetles, and very important natural controls of these forest pests. Adult checkered beetles feed on the adult wood-borers, while the larvae prey on the immature stages, including the eggs.