Red Beetle Bug
Location: Dandeli, North Karnataka, India
July 1, 2011 3:15 am
Dear Bugman,
Can you identify the Bug and the prey in this picture. The Picture was shot at Dandeli Forest, in North Karnataka, India.
Signature: Bhavesh Shah
Dear Bhavesh,
In our opinion, the predator and prey look like the same species, or at least closely related species. We cannot even be certain that this is an instance of predation, because some normally plant feeding True Bugs can be opportunistic, and they will feed upon the fluids of the dead bodies of insects without actually preying upon them. We will need to do additional research to try to determine the identity of this Bug. There is a very similar looking insect identified as a Cotton Stainer that can be viewed by scrolling down this Rings of Silver website. The Cotton Stainers pictured on this site also look similar, but with an additional black mark.
Update: January 20, 2015
We just received a comment indicating that this is a predatory Red Bug Antilochus conqueberti, and we found images that match on this site. The Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies has published a paper on this predatory Red Bug.
clear picture of predatory bug
i am intrested that predatory bug givve some picture
This bug is the predatory pyrrhocoridan Antilochus conqueberti.
Thanks so much for this identification on an old posting. Are you one of the authors of this paper in the Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies?