Lesser Bloody Nosed Beetle - Timarcha goettingensis

Scientific Name: Timarcha goettingensis.

English Name: Lesser Bloody Nosed Beetle.

French Name: Le Petit crache sang.

5 Key Characters:

• 8 - 10 mm long.
• Pronotum (the section between head and abdomen) has almost parallel sides.
• black quite shiny domed body.
• flightless, and walks ponderously.
• exudes a red fluid from its mouth when alarmed.

Lookalikes: Bloody Nosed Beetle T. tenebricosa, which is larger and not so shiny.

Habitat: Grassland where there are Bedstraws Galium spp, as this is what it eats.

Active Period: Adults are most active from April to August, but can be seen in any month.

Status: Common.

Further information:
Post on Days on the Claise, our daily blog.

Photographed by Loire Valley Nature:
Photographs are numbered from left to right and top to bottom. 1 - 7 female, eating Galium sp, in the haymeadow in front of our orchard, April. 8 - 9 male (note felty pads on feet), details as female above.

A female crossing the road in Preuilly sur Claise.

A male, unceremoniously tipped upside down so you can see his feet pads. These allow him to grip on to the female when mating using Van der Waal's force ie the hairs on his feet interlock at a molecular level with the female's back.