I felt a bit like a voyeur watching these handsome bugs doing their private business but I’d never seen their species before and, with them being preoccupied, it was the perfect opportunity to take a closer look and get some photographs. Rhopalus subrufus is one of four species in the genus Rhopalidae but, fortunately, R. subrufus is relatively easy to identify by the light and dark banding around the edge of its body (that flange is called the connexivum). The location where I found these two is typical of the habitat they favour: on low scrubby vegetation near trees or woodland.