Macrophotography - Pyrrhocoris apterus

Hello Fascinating Insect Lover..

Today I am sharing a photo of Pyrrhocoris apterus, a common insect of the family Pyrrhocoridae. Easy to spot for their striking red and black colors.

Firebugs generally mate in April and May. Their diet consists primarily of seeds from lime trees and mallows (see below). They can often be found in groups near the base of lime tree trunks, on the sunny side.

They can be seen in tandem formation when mating which can take from 12 hours up to 7 days. The long period of copulating is probably used by the males as a form of ejaculate-guarding under high competition with other males.Wikipedia