#3943 · 🦗 bugs, crickets & other insects
European Firebug
🇳🇱 Vuurwants ·Pyrrhocoris apterus
10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
- 1. © Boris Loboda · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- 2. © Per Hoffmann Olsen · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 3. © Aka · CC BY-SA 4.0
- 4. © Boris Loboda · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- 5. © Martin Grimm · CC BY-NC 4.0
- 6. © belgianchocolate · CC BY 4.0
- 7. © 0959kedi · CC0
- 8. © Sorin Ciorapciu · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- 9. © Boris Loboda · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- 10. © Christophe Quintin · CC BY-NC 4.0
what is it?
The firebug , Pyrrhocoris apterus , is a common insect of the family Pyrrhocoridae. Easily recognizable due to its striking red and black coloration, but may be confused with the similarly coloured but unrelated Corizus hyoscyami (cinnamon bug, squash bug) (see comparison). Pyrrhocoris apterus is distributed throughout the Palaearctic from the Atlantic coast of Europe to northwest China. It has also been reported from the USA, Central America and India. It has been reported as recently expanding its...
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- Spotted 2,075 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: the #2 most seen of the bugs, crickets & other insects in NL.
- 110,401 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named in 1758 (268 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- European Firebug
- Nederlands
- Vuurwants
- scientific name
- Pyrrhocoris apterus
- class
- Insecta
- order
- Hemiptera
- family
- Pyrrhocoridae
- sightings in NL
- 2,075
- sightings in Europe
- 96,580
- sightings worldwide
- 110,401
- GBIF records in NL
- 60,693
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1758
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 55610, Wikidata Q486957, GBIF 4486826, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.