A bright red Cardinal Beetle

This bright red Cardinal Beetle looks as if it’s forgotten about good camouflage. It’s pretty easy to spot sitting on a green leaf, don’t you think? In cases like this, the bright colours are often saying to predators, “I taste nasty!”

The tough cases covering the wings of beetles are called elytra and are actually modified fore-wings – they fly using just their hind-wings.

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[Photo courtesy of John Curd.]