I was over at Killerton on Thursday for meeting and afterwards in the car park I photographed this bright red and black insect. The insect in an order known as the hemiptera or true bugs – they are identified from other insects by their mouth parts which are adapted to suck the juices from plants or animals – rather like a type of insectivorous hypodermic syringe! After flicking though my ‘Chinery’ – The Collins Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe (possibly the best book in the world) I quickly found the beast – it is a squash bug called Corizus hyoscyami – this species can be muddled up with some of the ground bugs but our species is much hairier.
Historically Corizus was found along the coast of south Britain but in recent years it has spread inland and northwards as far as Yorkshire – a species responding to a changing climate! For more info on Corizus – see here.
Rather a smart looking animal with very detailed marking – feeding on a yarrow flower
In this close up you can see the hairs referred to above
A Dartmoor blog 