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Guess the riddle, it looks like a ladybug but it is not and it is capable of pretending that it is dead and you will not realize that, in reality, it is very, very alive, what is it?...
Well, it is the four-spotted beetle (Mylabris quadripunctata), which I photographed in the orchard and gardens of the Pedralbes monastery in Barcelona for this report in La Vanguardia's Readers' Photos.
It is very curious. And, although due to its intense red color and its points it may remind us of a ladybug, this beetle is more elongated and larger, as can be seen in the images that I was able to take in detail while it was among the flowers.
They have a size between 13 and 16 millimeters. The elytra are red and each have four black spots and a black band on the abdomen, as we can see in this series of snapshots.
They are very common in Mediterranean regions and prefer sunny places with many flowers, since they feed on pollen. In one of the snapshots we can see one of them filled with floral nectar.
It is true that they are capable of playing dead, but, in addition, you have to be careful because they have toxic effects and, for this reason, they are known and appreciated for their pharmacological properties.
The larvae feed on grasshopper eggs, as well as the eggs, larvae and provisions of hymenoptera (bees, bumblebees, wasps and ants, among others) that nest in the ground.
