| Fire Bug (Pyrrhocoris apterus (Linnaeus, 1758)) |
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Scientific name: Pyrrhocoris apterus (Linnaeus, 1758) Common name: Fire Bug French name: Gendarme Order: Heteroptera Family: Pyrrhocoridae Wingspan : 10-12 mm Biotope: Lives in large groups under trees, mainly lime trees and hibiscus, and along sunny walls. Geographic area: Temperate Europe as far as India, Mediterranean area. Missing in Great Britain, Scandinavia and mountains. Observation period : All year long. |
This common bug got its name from its bright red colour. The Fire Bug does not have this characteristic disagreeable defensive smell like the Green Shield Bug. Mating occurs at the beginning of spring. The female lays 50 to 60 eggs in the ground or under dead leaves. Larvae hatch out in may and become adult in autumn. Fire bugs mainly feed on fallen seeds (mainly under Lime trees). They can also eat eggs of other insects or dead insects. |
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I have many projects but a number never get finished. I was planning, with my friend Gérard, to list all the insect species (and there are many) of a small calcareous meadow close to our homes. This project is still in the box. You have to cross a small bridge to enter this meadow. This bridge is guarded by Fire Bugs and here is one of them. |
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This Fire Bug, observed near the small pond in my garden, is feeding on one dead Ptychoptera albimana. |
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Mating among flowers. |
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Here is a colony of baby Fire Bugs to brighten up my nest year's garden. |
André Bon November 2013