How to Manage Pests

Identification: Natural Enemies Gallery

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Soldier beetles, leather-winged beetles

Scientific name: Cantharidae family

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Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Cantharidae

Common hosts: Eggs and larvae of beetles, butterflies, moths, and other insects.

Commercially available: No

DESCRIPTION

Adults are long and narrow. Common species are often about 1/2 inch (13 mm) long with a red, orange or yellow head and abdomen and black, gray or brown soft wing covers. Adults are often observed feeding on aphids or on pollen or nectar on flowering shrubs and trees. Metamorphosis is complete. Larvae are dark, elongate, and flattened. They feed under bark or in soil or litter, primarily on eggs and larvae of beetles, butterflies, moths, and other insects. There are over 100 species of soldier beetles in California.

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