Shieldbugs are go!

25 Saturday Mar 2023

Tags

British shieldbug, Common Green Shieldbug, green shield bug, Palomena prasina

Common green shieldbugs like these overwinter as adults so it’s not that they’ve just hatched out but rather that the warmer temperatures and, some days, actual sunshine combine to tempt them out of these cosy hideaways under leaf litter or in cracks in bark.

230325 green shieldbug (1)

As you can see, these shieldbugs (scientific name Palomena prasina) aren’t always true to their name. During the winter months, their colour turns more brownish. It’s during the summer months that they can be seen wearing their true, bright green livery.

230325 green shieldbug (2)

Sunbathing bugs

16 Wednesday Mar 2022

Posted by sconzani in insects, spring

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

British bugs, Common Green Shieldbug, Coreus marginatus, Dock bug, Dolycoris baccarum, Hairy shieldbug, Palomena prasina

The shallow bowl shape of the leaves of Winter heliotrope were perfect for the bugs enjoying Monday’s warm spring sunshine. In one small sheltered area I found several Common green shieldbugs (Palomena prasina) . . .

220316 common green shieldbug

two Hairy shieldbugs (Dolycoris baccarum) . . .

220316 hairy shieldbug

and two Dock bugs (Coreus marginatus).

220316 dock bug

Beaded with dew

18 Tuesday Jan 2022

Posted by sconzani in insects, winter

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Tags

British bugs, Common Green Shieldbug, Green shieldbug, Palomena prasina, winter shieldbug

Here’s another recent surprise find, a Common green shieldbug (Palomena prasina) covered in early morning dewdrops. Obviously, it’s not green: these bugs overwinter as adults, changing their colouring from green to dark brown before the winter weather really sets in, usually around November. The British bugs website says these shieldbugs usually hibernate – perhaps this little beastie was caught out by the previously milder-than-usual temperatures.

220118 green shieldbug

Small and green

13 Tuesday Apr 2021

Posted by sconzani in insects, spring

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

British insects, Common Green Shieldbug, Exapion ulicis, Gorse weevil, Green shieldbug, Palomena prasina

Slowly, slowly, more insects are emerging. When I was getting a Gorse photo for last Sunday’s yellow wildflower challenge, this teeny tiny Gorse weevil (Exapion ulicis) paid a visit. I’m not sure if it was getting salt from my hand as it seemed quite reluctant to leave.

210413 gorse weevil

And yesterday I was scanning a Buddleja for leaf mines when I had the feeling I was being watched. This Common green shieldbug (Palomena prasina) was very well camouflaged sitting perfectly still on its leaf.

210413 green shieldbug

275/366 Another hitchhiker

01 Thursday Oct 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects

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Tags

British bugs, Common Green Shieldbug, Green shieldbug, Palomena prasina, shieldbugs

Another day, another hitchhiker, another shieldbug. Last time, it was a Hawthorn shieldbug, this time it was a Common green shieldbug (Palomena prasina). I have no idea where I picked this one up but sometime during today’s meander, it chose to fly or drop on to my backpack and hitched a ride home with me.

I popped it inside a glass – I knew those shot glasses would come in handy for something – and took a few photos of its underside, which I don’t usually get to see, before opening the window and letting it fly off into the sunset.

224/366 Burdock beasties

11 Tuesday Aug 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, plants, wildflowers

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Arctium minus, Banded burdock fly, British insects, Common Green Shieldbug, Lesser burdock, Palomena prasina, Terellia tussilaginis

Lesser burdock (Arctium minus) seems to be having a good year as I’ve been finding lots of vigorous, flowering plants during my local walks, and they’re home to some interesting mini-beasties. One I always look for is the Banded burdock fly (Terellia tussilaginis), and it also seems to be thriving locally.

200811 lesser burdock (4) 200811 lesser burdock (5) 200811 lesser burdock (6)

And, on one particular clump of burdock, I found a bounty of Common green shieldbugs (Palomena prasina), as I’ve done before (see my previous post Keeping it in the family, from September 2017). Once again, these were a mix of juvenile stages, 3rd and 4th instars, I think.

Of course, there are lots of other mini-beasties that also find Burdock flower nectar delicious – these two bees are just a couple of examples. What beasties have you seen on Burdock?

111/366 It’s a bugs’ life

20 Monday Apr 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, spring

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

British bugs, Coreus marginatus, Dock bug, Green shieldbug, Palomena prasina, shieldbug

First, the sunbathing – sometimes alone …

200420 green shieldbug

… sometimes with a friend.

200420 dock bug

Then, later, the sex!

200420 2 green shieldbugs

Credits: Today’s post has featured the Green shieldbug (Palomena prasina) and the Dock bug (Coreus marginatus).

46/366 Sunbathing

15 Saturday Feb 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, winter

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

British insects, Common Green Shieldbug, Green shieldbug, Palomena prasina, sunbathing shieldbug

Obviously, these photos were not taken today, as Storm Dennis is currently blasting the British Isles – though, in truth, here in south Wales we are not getting quite as much rain as I expected, nor are we being battered as severely as we were by the fiercely gusting winds that accompanied last weekend’s Storm Ciara, for which I am extremely grateful.

200215 common green shieldbug (1)

My photos of this Common green shieldbug (Palomena prasina) were taken a week ago, on a warm (for the time of year) sunny day. And, as I have just read in a tweet by SEWBReC, our local biodiversity records centre, that ‘Now is a good time of year to spot shieldbugs sunbathing on (rare!) sunny days’, I thought I would make this little sunbather my critter of the day.

200215 common green shieldbug (2)

The Shieldbug red-light district

22 Tuesday May 2018

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

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British insects, Dolycoris baccarum, Green shieldbug, Hairy shieldbug, Palomena prasina, shield bugs, shieldbug

There’s a little track I often walk down, or up, between my home and Penarth Marina, that’s not been touched by the Council’s destructive strimmers (so far), so it’s a great place to look for wildflowers and critters, and it can take me 30 minutes or more to walk its 100 metres.

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When I walked this way the other day, I came across this little Green shieldbug (Palomena prasina). Just look at that innocent-looking face … but don’t be fooled. It was probably the only one of maybe 30 Green shieldbugs I saw that was on its own – all the others were working on ensuring the continuation of their species.

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Even the Hairy shieldbugs (Dolycoris baccarum) I found (only 3 of those) were at it! Given all the bad news we hear these days about declining insect populations, I hope this means the shieldbugs are doing okay.

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What’s on the teasel, 1

17 Thursday Aug 2017

Posted by sconzani in flowers, insects, nature, wildflowers

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

British insects, Dolycoris baccarum, Green shieldbug, insect behaviour, insects on teasels, Palomena prasina, Sloe shieldbug, Teasel

This is the sight that greeted me as I wandered home through Dingle Park the other day.

170817 whats on the teasel (1)

A Sloe shieldbug (Dolycoris baccarum) had its head buried deeply into the gaps between the spines of a teasel flower head. The tiny purple flowers had finished so it wasn’t nectaring, and I would’ve thought the flower head too tough for it to be sucking plant sap, so what on earth was it doing?

170817 whats on the teasel (2)

This little Green shieldbug nymph (Palomena prasina), watching from a nearby grass stem (you can see it in the background of the first image), looked as confused and bemused as I was.

170817 whats on the teasel (3)