Are you identifying European insects?
I am glad I came across your excellent web site with wonderful images of insects. I was in the Netherlands and tried to identify the insects in the attached images but I wasn’t very successful in finding photos that match the species I photographed. The two specimens surrounded by leaves were in a field of beans. The common red and black insects were up and down the length of a trunk of a tree by the side of a road which ran along a river. It looks like I will be buying an insect identification book in the not-too-distant future. Thank you for any help you can provide. Best Wishes, Yours sincerely,
Richard
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| Firebug Aggregation | Mating Colorado Potato Beetles (range expansion???) |
Hi Richard,
The aggregation of red bugs are Firebugs, Pyrrhocoris apterus, a common species in continental Europe. We recently received a great poster from a French pharmacy calling them Gendarme. The mating Leaf Beetles look suspiciously like the US native Colorado Potato Beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata. This beetle once had a limited range in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, but with the spread of potato cultivation, it became a nationwide pest. Perhaps it has invaded Europe as well. BugGuide substantiates that this agricultural pest has gained a foothold in Europe.
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