Bloody-nosed beetle, Timarcha tenebricosa
Bloody-nosed beetle, Timarcha tenebricosa © joysaphine, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic
If threatened, Timarcha tenebricosa oozes a drop of bright red fluid from its mouth, earning it the common name bloody-nosed beetle.
It is Britain’s largest leaf beetle. Adults are typically 2cm long. They are black, often with an iridescent sheen, and their antennae look like a string of black pearls.
These flightless beetles are mainly found in southern England on well-drained grassland or heathland. They can be seen from April to September feeding on plants belonging to the Galium family, commonly known as bedstraws.
