A bug and its eggs

19 Tuesday Apr 2022

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British shieldbugs, gorse, Gorse flowers, Gorse shieldbug, Gorse shieldbug eggs, Piezodorus lituratus

The sunshine yellow flowers of gorse always draw my eye and I can seldom resist a quick sniff of their delicious scent (does gorse smell of coconuts or do coconuts smell like gorse?). This time, as I drew close to the flowers, I noticed a Gorse shieldbug (Piezodorus lituratus) enjoying the Spring sunshine.

220419 gorse shieldbug

And then, of course, I had to have a quick search for more. I didn’t spot any further adult bugs but I did find two lots of their distinctive black-and-white barrel-shaped eggs. Apparently, the eggs hatch within a week so I’ll have to revisit this plant soon to see if I can find the nymphs.

220419 gorse shieldbug eggs

A shieldbug selection

03 Friday Sep 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects

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British shieldbugs, Common Green Shieldbug, Gorse shieldbug, Red-legged shieldbug, shieldbugs

Do you have a favourite bug? I think the shieldbug is mine. Always cute, often comical, reasonably easy to identify – what’s not to love?

Gorse shieldbug, 2nd instar

210903 gorse shieldbug 2nd instar

Red-legged shieldbug, final instar

210903 red-legged shieldbug final instar

And a selection of Common green shieldbugs

210903 common green (1) 210903 common green (2) 210903 common green (3)

Shieldbugs on gorse

22 Thursday Apr 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects, plants

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British insects, British shieldbugs, Dolycoris baccarum, gorse, Gorse shieldbug, Hairy shieldbug, Piezodorus lituratus, shieldbugs on gorse

I had expected to find Gorse shieldbugs on these glowing gorse bushes (the clue’s in the name) but, in fact, the most numerous were the Hairy shieldbugs (of which there must have been at least 20).

The Gorse shieldbug (Piezodorus lituratus) (above left) looks very like a Common green shieldbug but its red antennae are a distinctive identification feature. The Hairy shieldbug (Dolycoris baccarum) (above right, and below) is a much more colourful character, a stylish combination of purple-brown and green, and it also has distinctive antennae, this time three white bands on a black base.

210422 hairy shieldbug (2)

96/365 Gorse weevils and shieldbugs

06 Saturday Apr 2019

Posted by sconzani in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature, plants, spring

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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.

190406 gorse weevil

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!

Good things come in small packages

11 Thursday May 2017

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, spring

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gorse, gorse flower, Gorse shieldbug, Gorse shieldbug eggs, insect eggs, Piezodorus lituratus, shieldbug

They say ‘Good things come in small packages’ and you couldn’t get much smaller than these tiny packages, the eggs of the Gorse shieldbug (Piezodorus lituratus) sitting on a gorse flower in Lavernock Reserve. I’ll be heading back soon to try to find the hatchlings.

170511 Gorse shieldbug eggs