Image Credit: Toussaint Ruggeri
Lady-beetles & soldier-beetles (Coccinellidae, Cantharidae+) – predators. Both of these predators of soft-bodied herbivores are frequent visitors to flowers at which they are seen to nectar and mate.
Lady beetles (top row) with red/orange elytra and black spots are familiar to everyone; the two commonest genera are Coccinella on the left and Hippodamia on the right.
Soldier beetles are recognized by their elongate shape, long antennae and leathery flexible elytra. They may be either a single color throughout or with contrasting thorax and elytra.