Tags
British insects, Exapion ulicis, gorse, Gorse shieldbug, Gorse weevil, Piezodorus lituratus, shieldbugs, weevils
I got some strange looks today when I was out walking – nothing unusual about that really. This time it was because I had my nose in a gorse bush looking for its special critters – and I found them. First, I was delighted to spot two tiny Gorse weevils (Exapion ulicis). I’ve only found them once before and these two led me a merry dance, in and around the gorse leaves, not wanting to have their photo taken. One disappeared but I managed to grab a couple of pics of the other.
The other critters were much easier, at least ten of them, probably many more, hiding in plain sight – that’s how well camouflaged they are. These Gorse shieldbugs (Piezodorus lituratus) were also camera shy and the gorse thorns made a few holes in my hands as I tried to pull the gorse this way and that to get some photos. But it was worth every speck of blood!
Great spots, I’ve scouted for gorse shield bugs recently but no luck thus far and I’ve yet to see a weevil locally, don’t know if that’s good or bad or if I’ve not looked hard enough!
Thanks, Theresa. There seem to be more Gorse weevils in north Wales than south – here’s the map from Aderyn. You can click on the squares to see more detail: https://aderyn.lercwales.org.uk/public/distribution/10k/results?taxon_dict_id=1805393
Oh, I love it! Such a cute little face. Scientists don’t always think things through, it would seem…
I do think humans need to interfere less than they do. In this case, it’s like the old saying goes, ‘two wrongs don’t make a right’.
This looks a lot like the American stink bug, which is brown and make a lot of noise so you know exactly when they’ve snuck inside your house. The European ones look much better with their green shield though!
There are several species of shieldbug in Britain – I’ve never known them stink, though. 🙂
I’m sorry you got savaged, but glad to see these pictures.
Thanks. No serious damaged caused, luckily.
A weevil for every eco-niche?
Something like that … 🙂
Well spotted! Do the Weevils do much damage?
Some damage, but the gorse seems to handle it. It was tested as a method to control the gorse in New Zealand but it didn’t exactly work – see here:
https://earthstar.blog/tag/weevil-as-biological-control/