Firebug gathering

I thought I would not find any insects that day. After a long walk on a late fall day, this was the last stop to take some photos.
I was passing some very big and old trees that were growing on both sides of a gravel lane. They were exposed to the slowly setting sun, and there they were. Buggers enjoying the sun :)

I never liked them. Since I was a kid, I remember we could always see them on the cemeteries crawling around graves and bushes. Add the red and black colour to them, and you have some nasty, poisonous creature that eats human flesh ;p
Kids are weird and like to scare themselves, don't they? Well, it worked :)

PYRRHOCORIS APTERUS

Also called Europead Firefug, it is actually not harmful and will not eat you in your sleep. They do not damage garden plants. What can be annoying though is the amount of bugs when they find a nice place to stay. They can form really large colonies, and the one you see here is actually a very small one.

They mainly feed on linden fruits because the seeds are covered with sweet juices and firebugs love that, but they are also good in disposing dead animals or consuming insect eggs. These bugs certainly do not eat plant leaves because they do not like leaves.
They produce a slightly sour smell, for that reason dogs, cats and other pets are not usually bothered by these bugs. Firebugs are excellent as a mosquito terminators.
_source

They are not very big, but with the bright orange-red pattern, they are easy to spot.
I read somewhere a while ago that each bug has a slightly different pattern. The size of the spots, the irregular edges, some have extra little spot... A bit like human fingertips.





I still wouldn't want to find one crawling on me, but I have to admit that they are very photogenic.