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Soldier Beetles - FAMILY CANTHARIDAE
- This page contains information and pictures about Soldier Beetles that we
found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.
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- Beetles in this family are from small to medium in size, usually black, brown and yellow in colour.
Adults bodies are soft, flat and long. Their antenna are filiform, 11-segmented.
The elytra are usually smooth and do not long enough to cover the abdomen
tip. They are abundant on flowers and foliage where they
feed on nectar, pollen, or other small insects. They are usually active during
the day. Sometimes they can be found in huge amount aggregation.
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- Soldier Beetles are known to produce defensive alkaloids secretions and
their body has the warning colours. Most of them have the colour patterns belong
to the Lycid mimicry
complex. The mimicry is of the Mullerian
type.
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- Adults can be found feeding nectar on flowers although Soldier Beetles
are predatory on soft body insects.
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- Larvae of most species are carnivorous, a few species
feed on plants. They are found in the soil and leaf litter.
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- There are only three genera in three subfamilies (one each) in the Solder
Beetle family.
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- There is only one Chauliognathus genus in this subfamily.
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- Plague Soldier Beetle, Green Soldier Beetle
- Chauliognathus lugubris or Chauliognathus pulchellus, body length
15mm
- Sometimes we found the swarms of Plague Soldier Beetle. The aggregations
are believed for the purpose of breeding. Most of them in the aggregation are
mating. The beetles are yellow in abdomen colour, covered with black
wing-covers and black head. More information can be found in this page.
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- Tricolor Soldier Beetle
 - Chauliognathus tricolor, body length
15mm
- The Tricolor Soldier Beetle has the head and wing-covers in black, thorax
in orange and abdomen in yellow colours. This is a very strong warning signal.
Soldier Beetles are known to produce defensive toxic secretions when
disturbed. Please click on here for
more information on this beetle.
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- Yellow Soldier Beetle
 
- Chauliognathus sp., body length 15mm
- 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. Please also
check this page for more information.
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- Red-tipped Soldier Beetle
- Chauliognathus sp., body length 10mm, 7mm
- This beetle has the typical Soldier Beetle's yellow colour with black
stripes. The tip of the wing-covers is red in colour. Abdomen is yellow-black
banded likes a wasp. Please check this page for more information.
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- Golden-brown Soldier Beetle
- Chauliognathus sp., body length 15mm
- This beetle has the relatively long and flat body. It is in gold and brown
colour. We saw this solder beetle long time ago (2002) and did not see them
again. We will update this page if
we found more information.
Subfamily Dysmorphocerinae and Silinae
- Small Brown Soldier Beetle I
 
- ? Heteromastix or Sphaerarthrum 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. Please check this page
for more information.
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- Small Brown Solder Beetle II
  - ? Heteromastix sp., body length 3mm
- Photos taken in Karawatha forest during early summer. Please check this page
for more information on this beetle,
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- Small Brown Solder Beetle III
 - ? Heteromastix sp., body length 8mm
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- Reference:
- 1. CANTHARIDAE
- Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of the Environment and
Heritage, 1996.
- 2. Insects
of Australia, CSIRO, Division of Entomology, Melbourne University
Press, 2nd Edition 1991, p 640.
- 3. A guide to the Genera of Beetles of South Australia Part.4 -
Matthews, E.G. 1985, p9.
- 4. A Guide to the Beetles of Australia - George Hangay and Paul Zborowski, CSIRO PUBLISHING April
2010, p130.
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