Tag Archives: British bugs

Bug: Liorhyssus hyalinus

09 Thursday Jul 2026

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This is one bug I didn’t find by fossicking amongst or staring at leaves; it came to me, appearing one recent afternoon on the inside of my living room window. I only managed a couple of photos before it was off again, expertly flying through the gap of the tilted window, something most creatures don’t manage to do. This is Liorhyssus hyalinus, a new bug for me and one that is not often recorded. The British Bugs website explains:

Historically regarded as a rare vagrant to Britain, but has appeared much more frequently since the 1990s and become established in some areas, with a recent history of records from the coast of south Wales [my location], where the bug seems to be resident.

Though my photo isn’t great (and, yes, the outside of the window is dirty – the windows get cleaned every couple of months but living next to the sea and a woodland means they don’t stay clean for long), the markings on this bug were distinctive enough for me to identify it fairly quickly (and my record has now been verified). If you want to learn more about Liorhyssus hyalinus, you can read the entry – and see better images – on the British Bugs website.

Lifer: Box bug

27 Monday Apr 2026

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Sunday week ago, as I was meandering my way around the outskirts of my town, I found an area of shrubs that was warmed by the bright sun and also sheltered from the seemingly relentless cool easterly wind. Not surprisingly, it was alive with insects enjoying the warmth, and this little creature was one of those.

At first, I thought it was a Dock bug but, on closer examination, I realised it looked similar but with some significant differences: its body was slimmer than a Dock bug’s; its legs were smooth and pale; and, most tellingly, its ‘shoulders’ were angular and pointy. This was my first ever Box bug (Gonocerus acuteangulatus – note the epithet ‘acute angle’ that references those ‘pointy shoulders’), a rare find in Wales, where fewer than ten have so far been recorded.

I wondered about the reason for this bug’s rarity and found the answer on the British Bugs website:

Historically very rare and known only from Box Hill in Surrey, where it was found on Box trees, this bug has expanded its range dramatically during the last decade and now occurs as far north as Yorkshire and as far west as Devon. This range expansion has been aided by a shift onto numerous other foodplants, and it is now most frequently found on hawthorn and buckthorn.

Bug: Harpocera thoracica

22 Wednesday Apr 2026

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My local park railings have produced the goods yet again, this time in the form of three nymphs of the same bug, Harpocera thoracica. I found that a little surprising but a bug expert on social media pointed out that these nymphs can usually be found just as the leaves of Oak trees are uncurling, and the tiny nymphs are so light they get blown out of the trees by strong winds.

There are Oak trees growing next to my park railings, and the day before I found these, it had been blowing a hoolie, so the scenario fitted perfectly. And the nymphs are tiny; that’s one of my fingers in the shot below. I was trying to stop the little creature scurrying over the edge of the railing before I got a picture.

I’ve only seen an adult Harpocera thoracica once. I included a photo of it in a blog a few years ago (Gone insecting, June 2021), but I thought I’d include that photo again here. As you can see, they look totally different to the nymphs. And now I’m motivated to spend some time leaf-fossicking in local Oak trees to see if I can find any more.

Turtle bug

23 Monday Mar 2026

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I found this little bug dead when I was picking up small rotting logs to see what might be lurking beneath, in a meander around Cardiff’s Grangemoor Park three weeks ago. I thought it was a Tortoise bug (Eurygaster testudinaria) and recorded it as such but my identification has since been corrected.

Turns out I had confused Turtle with Tortoise! This is, in fact, a species of shieldbug, a Turtle bug (Podops inuncta). Though I don’t think it’s clear in my photos, this species has ‘two small projections on the pronotum at each side of the head’ (thank you, Nature Spot).

The habitat in which I found it also fits with what the Nature Spot website says: ‘it is strongly ground-dwelling and rarely found unless searched for’; that explains why I’ve never seen one before, and encourages me to keep lifting up those small rotting logs.

Bug: Capsus ater

11 Wednesday Feb 2026

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This is another of my new bug finds from last year, found while leaf-turning wildflowers and scrub along a path in a wild area of a local park. Meet Capsus ater, from the Miridae family of British plant bugs.

I found this little fellow in early June, when the adults first appear; they can be seen from June right through till September. I was lucky to spot it higher up in the vegetation as they usually feed low down on plant stems, according to the British Bugs website.

Bug: Stenotus binotatus

05 Thursday Feb 2026

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I’ve just realised that I have a few bug finds from last year that I haven’t yet shared, which is actually something of a relief, as I’ve been struggling to find creatures to share with you all (apart from my beloved birds – there are always birds!). So, here is a plant bug Stenotus binotatus, which I found in a local field back in June. The adults can be seen between June and September, and can be found in grasslands, where they feed on the flowers of the grasses that grow there.

Bug: Anthocoris nemorum

05 Monday Jan 2026

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The two ladybird species (Arboreal ladybird and Kidney-spot ladybird) I’ve already blogged about weren’t the only new insects I happened to find at the end of last year. Common flower bug may be its common name but, apart from a tiny red nymph I spotted last summer (pictured here with an aphid, which will give you an idea of how tiny it really was), I’d never seen an adult Anthocoris nemorum until mid December.

The British Bugs website cautions that this is a difficult genus of bugs to identify so, if possible, you need to get clear images of the various key features: reflective forewings, entirely black pronotum, mostly orange-brown legs, etc. Fortunately for me, my little bug didn’t scurry away too quickly, and my photographs were enough to get a positive identification from the national recorder. The adult Anthocoris nemorum bugs can be seen all year round so I’ve been on the look out for more but, given our current chilly weather, I think they’re probably hiding away in the undergrowth, trying not to freeze.

B is for bugs and beetles

07 Sunday Dec 2025

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One of my wildlife aims this year has been to try to find as many new species, of all kinds, as possible, and I’ve been extremely lucky to have found many new-to-me bugs and beetles. These include Lesser thorn-tipped longhorn beetle, 4 January; My first Pine ladybird, 10 March; My first Eyed ladybird, 22 April; Fine streaked bugkins, 26 April; Cyllecoris histrionius, adult and nymph, 12 May; Cantharis decipiens, 13 May; Cacopsylla ambigua, 29 May; Rhopalus subrufus, 6 June; Rhabdomiris striatellus, 10 June; Bug: Deraeocoris flavilinea, 28 June; Beetle: Grammoptera ruficornis, 30 July; Beetle: Four-banded longhorn, 2 August; and Bug: Megacoelum infusum, 12 September.

I was particularly chuffed to find my first Juniper shieldbugs (Juniper shieldbug, 3 June) and, now that I know to look for them on some other tree species, I’ve managed to find them on four separate occasions, three of those in the same location as my initial find, on a Cypress growing in a local park, and the other on a different Cypress species growing in one of Cardiff’s oldest cemeteries, alongside Llandaff Cathedral.

Another new bug that I think is particularly attractive is Bug: Kleidocerys resedae. I wrote about that on 27 June, and this is another species that I’ve managed to re-find, on 15 November, when I spotted three different adult bugs within a few metres of each other.

A is for Arocatus roeselli

06 Saturday Dec 2025

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Another year of wonderful flora and fauna sightings is drawing to a close and, as I’ve done for a few years now, I’m going to do an alphabetical countdown of some of my more memorable moments in Nature. I’m very proud to have added three more first-for-Wales sightings to my list in 2025, and this beautiful bug was one of them (as reported in Bug: Arocatus roeselii, 12 July).

Closterotomus cousins

03 Wednesday Sep 2025

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This is a tale of two Closterotomuses – Closterotomi?

The first is Closterotomus norwegicus, also known as the Potato capsid, though I’m not sure why it has that common name. The British Bugs website says it ‘feeds on a wide range of plants, especially nettles, composites and clovers’, with no mention of potatoes. It’s a handsome little bug and quite common, though can be confused with other similar mirid bugs – the British Bugs page lists some of the distinguishing features to look out for.

This second Closterotomus species is C. fulvomaculatus – no common name that I’m aware of. It can be seen between June and August, so we’re right at the end of its date range now but there may still be time to spot it on scrub and in hedgerows where it feeds on nettles and meadowsweet. Apparently, it’s also quite partial to hops, but we don’t have those in my local area. It looks like just another brown bug until you look more closely and notice the lovely golden hairs that cover its upper body.