Aphanus rolandri

Length 6 to 8 mm.  A large and very distinctive black ground bug with a dark red or orange spot at the base of the wing membrane; confusion with other species is unlikely.

Relatively easy to identify and unlikely to be confused with anything else.

A. rolandri has been found in a variety of dry, sheltered and well-drained habitats which have a thin covering of leaf litter or stones, such as chalk pits, cliffsides and (historically) cultivated arable fields.

Adult: All year.  

Adults overwinter, becoming active in the spring. The new generation is complete by August.  

A scarce species known primarily from the south of England between Cornwall and Kent, with a scatter of records as far north as north Norfolk and the midlands. 

Status in Leicestershire and Rutland not known.

This species was named by Linneaus in 1758 after one of his followers, Daniel Rolander, after they fell out over money. The Latin binomial means "Obscure Rolander".