Red and Blue Beetle (Dicranolaius bellulus)

Dicranolaius bellulus So tiny, the native red and blue banded beetle. Males have an enlarged third antennal segment as seen here, used to grasp the female's antennae during mating. This one was around 5 mm length.

Eggs are laid in soil. Larvae feed on small soil organisms, pupate and emerge in spring. Adults fly about and actively search for prey, feeding on small invertebrate eggs, slow-moving insects and pollen. Australia,Coleoptera,Dicranolaius bellulus,Geotagged,Malachiinae,Melyridae,Red and Blue Beetle,arthropod,entomology,fauna,insect,invertebrate,malachite beetle,new south wales,red and blue beetle,summer

Behavior

They search over plants during the day. They eat eggs, larvae and other slow-moving insects. On rice crops, they have been found feeding on pollen. The egg, larval and pupa stages are in the soil.

References:

Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.

http://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane_beetles/RedAndBlueBeetle.htm

Taxonomy
Kingdom	Animalia
Division	Arthropoda
Class	Insecta
Order	Coleoptera
Family	Melyridae
Genus	Dicranolaius
Species	Dicranolaius bellulus

Photographed in
Australia