Soldier beetle - cantharis nigricans

Thank you all for such a marvellous response to my 300 blip day, you are all so kind. You even made front page spotlight.

We had some sunny spells today, but not enough to bring out the butterflies. However, I spotted this beetle and collected plenty of shots. I should have known that it would fly when it reached the edge of the leaf, still the shot was reasonable for a relatively slow exposure.

Soldier beetles are usually found sitting on flower heads, their only interest in the flowers is that they attract other insects upon which the beetle preys. Apparently they are usually found in pairs and are also called bonking beetles for this reason, although I have only seen single specimens. Now maybe a bit early in the season.

Dave