I photographed this “masked” bug last month in Grenoble, France. It was about 1/3 to 1/2 inch long.
I have a guess: the firebug, or I guess in France the gendarme (though I rather like “diable cherche-midi” : “south-seeking devil”?
Firebug:
Thanks, guys. I notice there are two different designs, probably based on sex, with one design being much more common.
Fire-bug of equivalent. Really common around the Mediterranean. We used to call them ‘ladybird ants’ in Cyprus because in certain circumstances they emerge from holes in the ground in large numbers. Not sure if it was communal hibernation or something.
We have a very similar looking bug in the UK: (Rhopalidae) Corizus hyoscyami
Despite the strikingly similar pattern, it’s actually in a completely different family, bizarrely.
The design with less black in it are the immature ones, the nymphs (see wikipedia entry cited above)