Top 10 Most Wanted Bugs in Your Garden – Soldier Beetle
  • October 2, 2018
  • Posted by: Mike McQueen, Charles Ray, and Kerry Smith
  • in Lawn & Garden
Soldier Beetle
Soldier Beetle

*This is an excerpt from Top 10 Most Wanted Bugs in Your Garden, ANR-2283.

Aliases: leatherwing, cantharid

Wanted For: Attacking and feeding on aphids and other soft-bodied insects.

Family History: Adults feed on pollen and insect pests on plants. The larvae, or young, hunt for pests in leaf litter and soil.

Sightings: Known to feed on the pollen of flowers such as goldenrod and milkweed while waiting for its prey. Reports of sightings appear in early spring, shortly after aphids begin hatching.

Mike McQueen, Regional Extension Agent, Home Grounds, Gardens and Home Pests; Charles Ray, Research Fellow, Entomology and Plant Pathology, Auburn University; and Kerry Smith, State Master Gardener Program Coordinator, Auburn University

Reviewed November 2021, Top 10 Most Wanted Bugs in Your Garden, ANR-2283

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