gay-coloured beetle

...About 3,000 species are known from around the world, and about 50 from Japan, but they are common in tropical regions. Many of the species are small, but many have bright colors, and are called gay-coloured or checkered beetles in English. Both adults and larvae are carnivorous, and many are beneficial as natural enemies of bark beetles, such as the white-banded beetle, the ant-like beetle Thanasimus lewisi (illustration), and the red-breasted ant-like beetle T. substriatus .

*Some of the terminology that refers to "gay-coloured beetle" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…世界から約3000種，日本からは約50種が知られるが，熱帯地方に多い。小型の種が多いが，はでな色彩をもつものが少なくなく，英名もgay‐coloured beetleまたはcheckered beetleである。成虫，幼虫とも肉食性でシロオビカッコウムシ，アリモドキカッコウムシThanasimus lewisi（イラスト），ムネアカアリモドキカッコウムシT.substriatusなど，キクイムシの天敵として有益なものが多い。…

※「gay-coloured beetle」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報