Thursday 10 August 2023

SOLDIERS WILD ABOUT CARROTS

The very flat flowerheads of Wild Carrot usually have a red spot in the centre.  


They may also carry one or more Soldier Beetles. 


 These are sometimes known as blood suckers, because of their bright colours but they are completely harmless to humans.  


They like nectar and pollen but mainly they prey on other insects visiting umbellifer flowers like hogweed, cow parsley and wild carrot.

While waiting for prey they often improve the shining hour with a bit of mating.  In fact they do quite a lot of this and for this reason they are sometimes referred to as the bonking beetles.  I just caught a couple on the left of this photo.




 

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