Black-headed Cardinal Beetle - Pyrochroa coccinea

Length 14 to 20 mm. Pronotum and elytra quite smooth and bright red or scarlet, otherwise rather shiny black and with a black head.

Records must be supported by good photograph(s).

They are diurnal and lead an exposed and conspicuous lifestyle on herbaceous vegetation, typically in wooded situations with a supply of decaying logs and fallen timber.

Adults are short-lived and have a brief season, usually appearing in April, becoming common through May and early June and only rarely encountered later.

Mating occurs early in the season and females oviposit among or beneath areas of dead bark on a range of broadleaf wood, more especially Oak and Beech, usually on fallen timber.

In the UK it is generally common in southeast England but more local and sporadic further north to the Lake District and is generally absent from the West Country and Wales.

Rarely recorded in Leicestershire and Rutland.