Fire Beetle: Toxic & Dangerous?

Because of their bright red color, they make a dangerous impression. But are fire beetles really dangerous or poisonous and must be fought?

Warning colors such as red or yellow play an important role in the animal world. Many poisonous animals, such as wasps or colorful poison dart frogs, use their colors to clearly signal: I am poisonous and dangerous, so leave me alone! For this reason, predators often give brightly colored animals a wide berth. On the other hand, there are also animal species that have taken on the appearance of dangerous animals and are themselves completely harmless. So what about the red fire beetle family? If red is a warning color, is the fire bug also dangerous?

Fire Beetle: A short profile

The fire beetle family includes approximately 140 species worldwide. In Germany, however, only three species occur. The most important and most common representative is the scarlet fire beetle (

Pyrochroa coccinea). The flat and elongated body can grow up to two centimeters long. Almost the entire upper body immediately catches the eye with its strong scarlet coloring, only the head is an exception and is completely black. Fire beetles are found particularly frequently in forests and on the edges of forests on blossoms or dead wood. This is partly due to their eating habits, because sweet plant sap or honeydew from aphids serves as food for the adult beetles.

Fire beetles are often found near dead wood, where their larvae hide under the bark. The larvae appear flattened, but this is their normal body shape. Fungi and other insects such as the bark beetle larva serve as food for the beetle larvae. After a development period of two to three years, the larvae pupate under the tree bark into an adult fire beetle. The other two fire beetle species are usually not so common in Germany. However, knowing about them definitely can't hurt. We have summarized the most important information for you:

• Red-Headed Fire Beetle (Pyrochroa serraticornis): This fire beetle is almost identical in appearance to the scarlet fire beetle. However, at 10 – 14 mm, it is a bit smaller than its big brother. But the better differentiator is the head. As the name of the red-headed fire beetle suggests, it has a red head, unlike the scarlet fire beetle.
• Orange fire beetle (Schizotus pectinicornis): Due to their small size of 8 – 9 mm, the beetles are sometimes also referred to as small fire beetles. Overall, the orange fire beetle is clearly distinguishable from the other two fire beetle species due to its small size and light orange upper body.

Fire beetles: dangerous and poisonous?

All three fire beetle species are completely harmless and not dangerous. Even if they wanted to, the fire beetles would not be able to damage human skin with their mouthparts. Nothing is known about a toxic effect on humans. As already mentioned in the introduction, not every animal with a warning color has to be dangerous at the same time. In addition to the adult beetles, the larvae are also harmless. Only conspecifics have to be careful, as the larvae sometimes tend to cannibalism.

Fire Beetle: Fighting Needed?

Control only makes sense if the fire beetle causes specific damage, for example to crops. If you look at the way of life of the fire beetle, it quickly becomes clear that the adult beetles cannot cause any damage. Because the scarlet fire beetle and the other two species only eat honeydew and other plant saps for food. In order to get to the plant sap, the plants are not harmed, which is why there is no reason to fight them.

And what about the larvae? The fire beetle larvae do not eat the wood in which they live. They feed exclusively on the insect larvae and fungi that live in them. Since wood-destroying larvae such as the bark beetle larvae are sometimes on their menu, the larvae could even be described as beneficial insects. Overall, combating the fire beetle is therefore not recommended, since both the larvae and the beetle are completely harmless to your plants and yourself.

Fire beetle with black dots: Can be confused with the fire bug

Unfortunately, it often happens that the fire beetle is confused with the much more common fire bug. The distinction between the two insects is very easy. In contrast to the fire beetles, the 6.5 to 12 mm large fire bugs have an oval body outline and cannot fly. In addition, the fire bugs usually appear in flocks and are real herbivores. They particularly enjoy sucking on the fallen seeds of linden trees and mallows such as hibiscus. In principle, however, a quick look at the upper body is enough to tell the difference. As soon as striking, black and red markings can be seen, it must be the fire bug, because fire beetles do not have any patterns.

More about fire bugs find out in this article.

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