Eye-catching Insects (1): Fiery Red Colours in Greece

Here are some of the colourful beetles

we saw in the Peloponnese, while we were in Greece ...

Shield Bug, probably Graphosoma italicum (or is there a Greek variety?), seen at Messine, Peloponnese

A Fire Bug. Seen at Nestor's Palace, Pylos, Greece

Ironically, King Nestor's Palace suffered a bad fire. Amazingly, the fire baked all the clay tablets, thereby preserving priceless examples of the early Linear B script.

The beetle below was in a different archaeological site, namely ancient Messine (sometimes seen as Messini), high up in the hills above Kalamata, of olive fame.  

The beetle heard me, and began to move fast ...

I was able to see the figure of 8 on its back ...

... as it scuttled out of sight. 

I have as yet been unable to identify the intriguing beetle above (update: 14 Feb 2011 - which I now know is the larva of a True Bug and not a beetle - please see comments below). Any help here would be appreciated!

I particularly enjoyed reading the Red and Black Insect page on the Honeyguide Wildlife Holiday site, and hope you may enjoy it. too. You might also like to see the Blister Beetle here. 

Oh, and by the way, it was Rosie's Ladybird that got me thinking 'red and black' today.