''Antilochus coquebertii'' (often misspelled as ''coqueberti'') is an

Old World The "Old World" () is a term for Afro-Eurasia coined by Europeans after 1493, when they became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia in the Eastern Hemisphere, previously ...

species of

true bug Hemiptera (; ) is an order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising more than 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, assassin bugs, bed bugs, and shield bugs. They range in size from to a ...

in the family

Pyrrhocoridae Pyrrhocoridae is a family of insects with more than 300 species world-wide. Many are red coloured and are known as red bugs and some species are called cotton stainers because their feeding activities leave an indelible yellow-brownish stain on c ...

, occurring in South and Southeast Asia. It is brightly coloured, red and black, and is a beneficial predator on other pyrrhocorids, especially the genus '' Dysdercus'', which are crop pests. They are often confused with bugs in the family

Lygaeidae The Lygaeidae are a family in the Hemiptera (true bugs), with more than 110 genera in four subfamilies. The family is commonly referred to as seed bugs, and less commonly, milkweed bugs, or ground bugs. Many species feed on seeds, some on sap or ...

, but can be distinguished by the lack of

ocelli A simple eye or ocellus (sometimes called a pigment pit) is a form of eye or an optical arrangement which has a single lens without the sort of elaborate retina that occurs in most vertebrates. These eyes are called "simple" to distinguish the ...

on the head, and they can be easily distinguished from ''Dysdercus'' by the lack of white stripes on the body. They are known to be

cannibalistic Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is also well documente ...

in nature.

References

External links

* Pyrrhocoridae Insects described in 1803 Insects of Southeast Asia {{Pentatomomorpha-stub