Tricolor Soldier Beetle

Chauliognathus tricolor · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Cantharidae

Also called: Soldier Beetle

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Tricolor Soldier Beetle
Photo: unknown, CC0

The tricolor soldier beetle is 6 to 16 mm long and has a flattened body.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

It shows a bright red-orange front segment behind a black head. Its abdomen is yellow-orange but is mostly hidden by metallic olive-green wing covers.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

Adults are between 6 and 16 mm long and have a flattened shape.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Its native range includes eastern Australia, South Australia and the southwest of Western Australia.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 46 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, Illinois, North Carolina, Maryland, Minnesota, Indiana.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

Same family (Cantharidae)

Common Red Soldier BeetleCommon Red Soldier BeetleRhagonycha fulvaGoldenrod Soldier BeetleGoldenrod Soldier BeetleChauliognathus pensylvanicusHarmlessMargined Leatherwing BeetleMargined Leatherwing BeetleChauliognathus marginatusRustic Sailor BeetleRustic Sailor BeetleCantharis rusticaLivid Soldier BeetleLivid Soldier BeetleCantharis lividaDark Sailor BeetleDark Sailor BeetleCantharis fusca

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chauliognathus_tricolor

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.