I called this blog common and green as that is the name of this lovely creature, the Common green shieldbug (Palomena prasina), but this particular shieldbug’s colour looked to be half way between its summer green colour and the bronze it assumes during the winter months.

It was basking on an ivy leaf, out of the chill wind, in today’s relatively warm winter sunshine, and, in my fanciful imagination, I thought it looked to be smiling contentedly. I was certainly smiling to see this, my first shieldbug of 2025.