25 Monday Jul 2022
Yesterday’s first tasting of this season’s blackberries nearly ended in disaster – not for me, but for this teeny weeny Dock bug nymph that was hiding on the far side of a berry but managed to scurry quickly on to my hand before I ate it. The berry was still a bit sour but at least it wasn’t crunchy!
*Note to self: always inspect the berries before eating them.
29 Tuesday Sep 2020
Posted in insects
On recent sunny days, Dock bugs, both young and old, have been out basking in the sunshine.
I often find them on Bramble leaves and, occasionally, on the berries, though, according to the British Bugs website (which also has a helpful chart showing their different stages of development), they don’t eat these (not surprisingly, their main food source is Dock, as well as other plants in the Polygonaceae family).
Though their brown colour is quite obvious on Bramble leaves, that same non-descript colour and their ragged shape mean Dock bugs (Coreus marginatus) can be very inconspicuous. I only spotted the one below because it moved.
05 Tuesday Sep 2017
I blogged about the Dock bug (Coreus marginatus) back in October last year and mentioned then that, in common with most bugs, these mini-beasties go through five larval / nymph stages before they become adults, though I had only ever seen the adult bugs … until yesterday.
I was indulging in the odd mouthful of ripe blackberry as I wandered around Cathays Cemetery when my hand was stopped in its reach by the glare of this little critter. It obviously had its eye on the succulent ripeness of that very same blackberry and was certainly not going to be intimidated by any gigantic human hand reaching towards it. I relinquished the berry!
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