Soldier Beetle - Pacificanthia rotundicollis

Sorry for the blurry photo, but I had to share this anyway!

I spotted these two soldier beetles mating on a leaf on the edge of a meadow. They were mating (female on top and upright, male upside down). At first, I thought that the male was dead, but then noticed that he was occasionally moving. Basically, the female was casually walking around, nibbling on the leaf as she dragged the male along. They made quite an amusing scene.

comments (12)

Ferdy Christant

Lion

Looks like a reverse caveman scene, how hilarious. I propose to rename soldier beetles to horny beetles, I don't think I've ever seen one *not* mating. Posted 7 years ago
1. Christine Young
  
  Lion
  
  Lol, so true - they are definitely hump bugs, haha. When we spotted these beetles, my 9-year old son proceeded to explain what "mating" means to his younger brother...He said, "the girl rubs her parts on the boy's parts until he gets so annoyed that he agrees to give her babies." Love the logic of children. Posted 7 years ago
2. 1. Ferdy Christant
    
    Lion
    
    A bright young man he is, with an old soul carrying lots of wisdom. Posted 7 years ago
  2. 1. Christine Young
      
      Lion
      
      ;P Posted 7 years ago
    2. 1. Pudding4brains
        
        Lion
        
        Rhagonycha fulva is called the "Red bonking beetle" (or sometimes Hogweed bonking beetle) in the UK :o) Posted 7 years ago
      2. Christine Young
        
        Lion
        
        Hehe! Posted 7 years ago

Pudding4brains

Lion

Christine, I don't know the first thing about Nearctic Cantharidae, but somehow can't get my head around it that this would be a Podabrus :-/ It's hard to see from the side, but the shape of the pronotum and head just don't seem to match my perception of what a Padabrus should look like. However, the genus is quite rare in my part of the world, and you have many more species so this might be a cross Atlantic difference(?)
Looking around on BugGuide doesn't necessarily make things better (first thought of mine would be that the Cantharidae there are riddled with strange IDs?).
Anyway: Two questions spring to mind to put my curiosity at rest ;o) :
- Do you have other perspectives on the beetles of this scene showing head and pronotum more dorsally?
- Do you know if there are any representatives of the Cantharini such as maybe genus Pacificanthia in your area?

Sorry to "doubt" your ID - or more likely: my perception of the genus Podabrus, but it would be interesting to me to "hone" my ideas of what the different genera of Cantharidae might look like :o) Cheers, Arp Posted 7 years ago
1. Christine Young
  
  Lion
  
  Thanks so much for your comment Arp! I am not at all 100% on this ID except to say that it is Cantharidae ;). I truly welcome your help, and I do have another shot - a dorsal view, that I will upload. We do have Pacificanthia sp. in the area - Pacificanthia rotundicollis, specifically (I think). There's also Podabrus tomentosus, which is similar.
  
  Thanks for doubting my ID - any help is much appreciated! These beetles are so tricky for me to ID! Posted 7 years ago
2. 1. Christine Young
    
    Lion
    
    Photo added! Posted 7 years ago
  2. 1. Pudding4brains
      
      Lion
      
      Hi Christine, excellent - thanks for that :o)
      With my limited knowledge of your fauna and based on what I know for European Cantharidae I would definitely run with the Pacificanthia (rotundicollis?) option here.
      In my perception of (admittedly European) Podabrus this is what a typical Podabrus would look like:
      https://bugguide.net/node/view/960475/bgimage
      Note the short very rectangular pronotum with almost straight fore and hind margins and the long temples behind the eyes making the head look like it has neck :o) Posted 7 years ago
    2. 1. Christine Young
        
        Lion
        
        Agreed! Thanks so much Arp. Posted 7 years ago
      2. Pudding4brains
        
        Lion
        
        Thanks to you too Christine - good to be able to check in this way that my understanding of Podabrus might also be more or less valid for the Nearctic :o) Posted 7 years ago