''Chauliognathus lugubris'', the plague soldier beetle, green soldier beetle or banana bug, is a species of

soldier beetle The soldier beetles (Cantharidae) are relatively soft-bodied, straight-sided beetles. They are cosmopolitan in distribution. One of the first described species has a color pattern reminiscent of the red coats of early British soldiers, he ...

(Cantharidae) native to Australia. It has a flattened body up to long, with a prominent yellow-orange stripe behind the black

prothorax The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the pronotum (dorsal), the prosternum ( ventral), and the propleuron (lateral) on ...

. The abdomen is yellow-orange but is mostly obscured by the metallic olive green

elytra An elytron (; ; : elytra, ) is a modified, hardened forewing of beetles (Coleoptera), though a few of the true bugs (Hemiptera) such as the family Schizopteridae are extremely similar; in true bugs, the forewings are called hemelytra (sometime ...

. Plague soldier beetles are most common in spring and early summer, and have an adult lifespan of 2-3 months. They are most commonly found in the temperate region of south-east Australia, but are occasionally found in parts of the south-west of the continent. The beetles often swarm in large, localised groups around flora such as shrubs and trees, primarily to mate and eat. The swarms can include hundreds of thousands of beetles. As adults, plague soldier beetles are thought to feed on pollen and nectar. While in their larval stage, plague soldier beetles live in soil and are thought to feed on smaller, soft-shelled invertebrates.

External links

Sightings on Canberra Nature Map

References

Cantharidae Beetles described in 1801 Endemic fauna of Australia {{Cantharidae-stub