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Red Net-winged Beetle (Dictyoptera simplicipes) A.k.a. Red-legged Net-Winged Beetle is a flying insect in the Net-winged Beetles (Lycidae) family and Click, Firefly, and Soldier Beetles (Elateroidea) Superfamily. Adults are 6.5-12.5 mm long, bright red or orange with black antennae and a black diamond-shaped mark in the center of the pronotum. They are frequently found in mating aggregations in spring. They are found throughout California in conifer and mixed forests.

Field Guide to California Insects, by Kip Will, J. Gross, D. Rubinoff , J. Powell, 2nd ed., 2020, pp. 221-222, fig. 306.

BugGuide: https://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&keys=Dictyoptera+simplicipes

Link to confirmed observation nearby in February: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/199066929

BugGuide: Arthropods: Photos of Insects, Spiders & Their Kin (US & Canada), clickable categories or use search bar (scientific name): https://bugguide.net/node/view/3/bgpage

The epiphytic red algae on LHS is the subject of this observation..Growing on Posidonia blades mainly,,with minimal epiphytic growth in same size range seen on the coexisting Zostera species eel grass (presumably because this is a moderate to high exposure coastal site such that eel grass would be uprooted by surge once blades accumulated significant epiphytic loads, although the more rapid replacement growth rate of Zostera foliage might partly offset this). Snorkel close to the inshore limit of meadows at this location, Bull Ring Bay.