Soldier Beetles - FAMILY CANTHARIDAE
Beetles in this family are usually small in size, brown and yellow in colour. Adults bodies are soft, flat and long. Their antenna are filiform. They are abundant on flowers and foliage where they feed on nectar, pollen, or other insects. Larvae of most species are carnivorous, a few species feed on plants.
- Body length 20mm
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- Plague Soldier Beetle
- Chauliognathus lugubris, Body length 25mm
- We found this mating couple on a gum tree trunk on late spring.
- Soldier Beetle
- Chauliognathus sp., body length 15mm
- This beetle has the relatively long and flat body. It is in gold and brown colour. We sometimes found many of them on a tree.
- Plague Soldier Beetle
- Soldier Beetle
- Chauliognathus sp., body length 20mm
- This Solder Beetle has its abdomen with black and yellow strips, when fly, mimics a wasp. Its forewings cover are brick-red in colour, which mimics a Lycid Beetle. Most predators will avoid this two groups of insects.
- Soldier Beetle
- ? sp., body length 10mm, 7mm
- We saw this beetle once in rainforest near Mt Nebo during mid summer.
- Soldier Beetle
- ? sp., body length 8mm
- Quite a number of them found in the bush in early spring in Brisbane. The beetles are golden-brown in colour and small in size. Here we like to thank Dr. Kaae of Cal Poly Pomona. Dr. Kaae sent us email and advised that this beetle is in this family..
