Soldier beetles are predators to a host of bad bugs including aphids and other soft bodies insects. Also known as leather-winged beetles, adults are less than half an inch long, and straight-sided with a red, orange, or yellow head and abdomen.
Larvae are elongated and cylindrical except flattened on top, and have distinct, rounded segments. In common species larvae are dark brown or dark yellowish and grow up to three-fourths inch long. They are ground-dwelling and mainly predators of eggs, larvae, and pupae of various arthropods
Adults are active during the day and usually observed on flowers or leaves infested with aphids or other honeydew-excreting insects. When disturbed, adults may withdraw their legs and drop to the ground as if dead. Adults’ blackish and red coloration alerts vertebrate predators that this family of beetles are distasteful; adults, larvae, and pupae can excrete noxious, defensive chemicals from specialized abdominal glands.