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Cantharis rustica
One of the common soldier beetles, caught just during the dinner-time - I wish I knew what kind of caterpillar this would be... This soldier beetle has black elytra covered in fine hairs, with the tip of abdomen protruding below elytra. The pronotum is brown red with a dark mark in the center - the position of this mark differentiating it from another common soldier beetle of same colours, C. fusca. Moreover, femurs are red-brown too; while legs are all black at C. fusca.
Native to Europe, it is usually found on uncleared edges of roads or agricultural fields. Here, observed on edges of wetland in an area of mixed use (agricultural fields and some protected wetlands and woods), all located in Geneva lake valley, French side.
I thought i could be C.rustica; but all descriptions I managed to found state that femora (thighs) are red with species; which is not the case here, as they are black or dark brown...
Spotted on May 17, 2019
Submitted on May 20, 2019
5 Comments
Thank you all for your wonderful comments and encouragements.
I'll just second Liana's comment. Absolutely. Wonderful spotting, Zlatan.
Great series Zlatan! That caterpillar looks like it was made out of a deflated snowpea with a moldy lychee head :D Thank you for sharing :) Liana
Great capture of the feeding behavior.
Your spotting has been nominated for the Spotting of the Week. The winner will be chosen by the Project Noah Rangers based on a combination of factors including: uniqueness of the shot, status of the organism (for example, rare or endangered), quality of the information provided in the habitat and description sections. There is a subjective element, of course; the spotting with the highest number of Ranger votes is chosen. Congratulations on being nominated!