Pyrrhocoris apterus (Linnaeus, 1758)
(Firebug)

Interactions where Pyrrhocoris apterus is the dominant partner and gains from the process

The following relationships have been collated from the published literature (see 'Interaction References').

Stage Summary Taxon Vernacular Classification References Darwin Classification of Active Taxon Active Taxon Active Vernacular Active Taxon Uncertain Active State Active Part Active Stage Relationship Relationship Uncertain Relationship Geography Darwin Classification of Passive Taxon Passive Taxon Passive Vernacular Passive Taxon Uncertain Passive State Passive Part Passive Stage Passive Taxon's significance to Active Taxon Indoors etc Season
adult adult sucks sap of Foreign MALVACEAE mallows & limes Malvales Land and Water Bugs of the British Isles, Southwood, T.R.E. & Leston, D., 1959
 /Animalia/Arthropoda/Insecta/Hemiptera/Pyrrhocoridae/Pyrrhocoris apterus/Pyrrhocoris apterusfirebugadult Foodplant / sap suckerForeign /Plantae/Tracheophyta/Magnoliopsida/Malvales/Malvaceae/Malvaceaemallows & limes
nymph nymph sucks sap of Foreign MALVACEAE mallows & limes Malvales Land and Water Bugs of the British Isles, Southwood, T.R.E. & Leston, D., 1959
 /Animalia/Arthropoda/Insecta/Hemiptera/Pyrrhocoridae/Pyrrhocoris apterus/Pyrrhocoris apterusfirebugnymph Foodplant / sap suckerForeign /Plantae/Tracheophyta/Magnoliopsida/Malvales/Malvaceae/Malvaceaemallows & limes
adult adult sucks sap of UK/Ireland Malva arborea Tree-mallow Malvales: Malvaceae Land and Water Bugs of the British Isles, Southwood, T.R.E. & Leston, D., 1959
 /Animalia/Arthropoda/Insecta/Hemiptera/Pyrrhocoridae/Pyrrhocoris apterus/Pyrrhocoris apterusfirebugadult Foodplant / sap suckerUK and/or Eire /Plantae/Tracheophyta/Magnoliopsida/Malvales/Malvaceae/Malva arborea/Malva arboreatree-mallow
adult adult sucks sap of seed UK/IrelandMajor Malva arborea Tree-mallow Malvales: Malvaceae Land and Water Bugs of the British Isles, Southwood, T.R.E. & Leston, D., 1959
 /Animalia/Arthropoda/Insecta/Hemiptera/Pyrrhocoridae/Pyrrhocoris apterus/Pyrrhocoris apterusfirebugadult Foodplant / sap suckerUK and/or Eire /Plantae/Tracheophyta/Magnoliopsida/Malvales/Malvaceae/Malva arborea/Malva arboreatree-mallowseedMajor
nymph nymph sucks sap of UK/Ireland Malva arborea Tree-mallow Malvales: Malvaceae Land and Water Bugs of the British Isles, Southwood, T.R.E. & Leston, D., 1959
 /Animalia/Arthropoda/Insecta/Hemiptera/Pyrrhocoridae/Pyrrhocoris apterus/Pyrrhocoris apterusfirebugnymph Foodplant / sap suckerUK and/or Eire /Plantae/Tracheophyta/Magnoliopsida/Malvales/Malvaceae/Malva arborea/Malva arboreatree-mallow
nymph nymph sucks sap of seed UK/IrelandMajor Malva arborea Tree-mallow Malvales: Malvaceae Land and Water Bugs of the British Isles, Southwood, T.R.E. & Leston, D., 1959
 /Animalia/Arthropoda/Insecta/Hemiptera/Pyrrhocoridae/Pyrrhocoris apterus/Pyrrhocoris apterusfirebugnymph Foodplant / sap suckerUK and/or Eire /Plantae/Tracheophyta/Magnoliopsida/Malvales/Malvaceae/Malva arborea/Malva arboreatree-mallowseedMajor
adult adult sucks sap of Foreign Tilia limes Malvales: Malvaceae Land and Water Bugs of the British Isles, Southwood, T.R.E. & Leston, D., 1959
 /Animalia/Arthropoda/Insecta/Hemiptera/Pyrrhocoridae/Pyrrhocoris apterus/Pyrrhocoris apterusfirebugadult Foodplant / sap suckerForeign /Plantae/Tracheophyta/Magnoliopsida/Malvales/Malvaceae/Tilia/Tilialimes
nymph nymph sucks sap of Foreign Tilia limes Malvales: Malvaceae Land and Water Bugs of the British Isles, Southwood, T.R.E. & Leston, D., 1959
 /Animalia/Arthropoda/Insecta/Hemiptera/Pyrrhocoridae/Pyrrhocoris apterus/Pyrrhocoris apterusfirebugnymph Foodplant / sap suckerForeign /Plantae/Tracheophyta/Magnoliopsida/Malvales/Malvaceae/Tilia/Tilialimes

Author & YearTitleSource
Southwood, T.R.E. & Leston, D., 1959Land and Water Bugs of the British IslesWayside & Woodland Series, 1959 edition, 436pp, Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd.

Pyrrhocoris apterus (Firebug) may also be included in 'feeds on' relations listed under the following higher taxa:

Pyrrhocoris apterus (Firebug) may be included in 'fed on by' relations listed under the following higher taxa:

Taxonomic hierarchy:
SpeciesPyrrhocoris apterus (Firebug)
FamilyPYRRHOCORIDAE (firebugs)
SuperfamilyPYRRHOCOROIDEA (a superfamily of bugs)
InfraorderPentatomomorpha (an infraorder of bugs)
SuborderHETEROPTERA (true bugs)
OrderHEMIPTERA (bugs)
Division Exopterygota (earwigs, grasshoppers, stoneflies, true bugs, and other insects with wings developing externally)
InfraclassNeoptera (bees, beetles, flies, grasshoppers, moths and other advanced insects)
SubclassPTERYGOTA (bees, beetles, dragonflies, flies, grasshoppers, moths and other winged insects)
ClassINSECTA (true insects)
SubphylumHEXAPODA (insects and other 6-legged organisms)
PhylumARTHROPODA (arthropods)
SuperphylumECDYSOZOA (skin shedders)
CladeBilateria (bilaterally symmetrical animals)
SubkingdomEUMETAZOA (metazoans)
KingdomANIMALIA (animals)
DomainEukaryota (eukaryotes)
LifeBIOTA (living things)
NBNNBN (data.nbn.org.uk) has a distribution map for Pyrrhocoris apterus (Firebug)

Identification Works

Handling & MagnificationAuthorYearTitleSource
Anon. Red and black bugs from the Channel Islands area www.cwgsy.net/private/gsybiorec/entomology/files/redandbl_files/redandblc.html

Pyrrhocoris apterus (Firebug) may also be included in identification literature listed under the following higher taxa:

Literature listed under the following higher taxa may be relevant to Pyrrhocoris apterus (Firebug):

Creative Commons License
This website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Licence.

Unless otherwise expressly stated, all original material on the BioInfo website by Malcolm Storey is licensed under the above Creative Commons Licence.

BioInfo - Wildlife Information (UK)