Three shieldbug nymphs

13 Wednesday Aug 2025

Tags

Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale, British shieldbugs, Bronze shieldbug, Bronze shieldbug nymph, Cyphostethus tristriatus, Hawthorn shieldbug, Juniper shieldbug, shieldbug, shieldbug nymphs, Troilus luridus

I’ve found some nice nymphs of our various shieldbug species during recent walks so thought I’d share a few of them. The nymphs almost always look quite different to the adults of the same species; if you’re unsure which shieldbug or which stage (instar) of nymph you’ve found, the British Bugs website has a page full of excellent drawings showing the various instars of all the British shieldbug species.

As this was only my fourth ever sighting of this species, I was particularly pleased to spot this Bronze shieldbug nymph (Troilus luridus), though it would have been difficult to miss as its metallic colours sparkled in the sunshine.

To illustrate how much these bugs change as they grow, I’ve included two photos of Hawthorn shieldbug (Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale), the top image shows early instar nymphs and below that is a mid instar nymph.

It was just a couple of months ago that I saw my first Juniper shieldbug (Cyphostethus tristriatus) and I wrote then (Juniper shieldbug, 3 June) that I was intending to return to the site to look for more, adults and nymphs. I did, and I have; this is one of two nymphs I found recently, a bug that’s just a stunning as the adult, in my humble opinion.

Parent bug mother and eggs

23 Wednesday Jul 2025

Posted by sconzani in insects

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

British insects, British shieldbugs, Elasmucha grisea, Parent bug, Parent bug eggs, Parent bug female brooding eggs, shieldbug

You might remember a very colourful and joyful blog from July last year (Parent bug mother and babies) when I shared a sighting of a Parent bug (Elasmucha grisea) female with her huge brood of young buglets (or, more correctly, nymphs, but I quite like buglet!). Well, just as I was heading home from a recent wander around Cardiff’s Grangemoor Park, I was fossicking through the leaves of an Italian alder tree and spotted this scene.

Though her colouring is quite pale, this is also a Parent bug mother, only this time she’s huddling over and protecting her eggs. Whether or not she was still in the process of laying the eggs or whether these eggs were a few days old I don’t know, and I didn’t want to disturb her by looking more closely. I grabbed a couple of quick photos and left her to her mothering duties.

Parent bug mother and babies

12 Friday Jul 2024

Posted by sconzani in insects

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

British insects, British shieldbugs, early instar Parent bug nymphs, Elasmucha grisea, Parent bug, Parent bug nymphs, shieldbug

Leaf-bothering is quickly becoming one of my favourite things, especially when the weather isn’t good for bird-watching or spotting beautiful insects like butterflies and dragonflies. And it is most special when I turn over a leaf to see scenes like this, of a Parent bug (Elasmucha grisea) and her many babies (according to the British Bugs website, the male bug dies soon after mating while the female lives on to brood her eggs and young offspring). And these weren’t all of the Parent bug’s nymphs, as a neighbouring leaf held even more – I stopped counting at 80! At least she doesn’t have to feed them all.

240712 parent bug and babies

Three little shieldbugs

01 Tuesday Aug 2023

Posted by sconzani in insects

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

British shieldbugs, Bronze shieldbug, Bronze shieldbug mid instar, Eurygaster testudinaria, Pentatoma rufipes, Red-legged shieldbug, shieldbug, Tortoise shieldbug, Tortoise shieldbug final instar, Troilus luridus

When the sun’s shining (which, admittedly, hasn’t been very often in the last couple of weeks), the patches of bramble and low scrub seem to be full of shieldbugs of various sizes and stages, basking in the welcome warmth. Two I’ve seen recently have been new to me:

230801 bronze mid instar

Although I’ve seen Bronze shieldbugs (Troilus luridus) before, I’ve not seen this particular variation, which is a mid instar, halfway between egg and adult.

230801 Eurygaster testudinaria tortoise final instar

You might remember the lesson I learnt back in July 2022 (Blackberries, yum!) to always check a Blackberry before putting it in my mouth. Well, that held true again recently: I was about to pluck this luscious-looking berry when I noticed its occupant. This little critter is the final instar of the Tortoise shieldbug (Eurygaster testudinaria), a new shieldbug for me.

230801 red-legged shieldbug

And this last bug is not new at all but I liked the way it was posing, and the fact that I was able to get some shots of the lovely speckling on its belly. This is an adult Red-legged shieldbug (Pentatoma rufipes).

281/366 Hairy and handsome

07 Wednesday Oct 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

British bugs, Hairy shieldbug, shieldbug

I imagine this little guy was trying to shelter on this building wall, attempting, as I was, to avoid the worst of the wind and rain. At least it could easily fly off into the nearby bushes, whereas I had a 20-minute uphill walk to get home. Oh, and in case you don’t know, this is a Hairy shieldbug – you can read more about these handsome creatures in my post Hairy shieldbugs, April 2020.

201007 hairy shieldbug

113/366 Hairy shieldbugs

22 Wednesday Apr 2020

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

British bugs, British shieldbugs, Dolycoris baccarum, Hairy shieldbug, shieldbug

You wouldn’t think an insect that looks like it’s wearing armour (hence ‘shield’ bug) could be hairy but the Hairy shieldbug (Dolycoris baccarum) is living proof. It’s difficult to see the hairs when you’re viewing them in full sunshine, as their shield-shaped backs are quite shiny, but if you can get a close view in a shady setting, you can see the hairs on their legs and, in my photo below, along the top of the shield.

200422 hairy shieldbug (5)

I found at least 20, probably more, of these handsome creatures in the scrub alongside a seldom-walked local path, and will be keeping an eye on this area to see if I can spot their offspring in the coming months, as it’s always interesting to see the different stages of growth. You can see images of these different instars, not only for the Hairy shieldbug but also for all the other shieldbug species, on the excellent British Bugs website.

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).

The Shieldbug red-light district

22 Tuesday May 2018

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

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.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

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.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

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.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Keeping it in the family

12 Tuesday Sep 2017

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

British insects, Green shieldbug, Lesser burdock, shield bugs, shieldbug

I was checking out a Burdock plant the other day (I rather like their flowers and seed heads, and they have their own special fly) when I suddenly noticed this Green shieldbug and then another one, and another one, and another one …

170912 Green shield bug family (1)

Turns out there was at least one adult and six nymphs, though more may have been lurking undiscovered. I’m assuming they were all members of the same family, but that is pure surmise.

Good things come in small packages

11 Thursday May 2017

Posted by sconzani in insects, nature, spring

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

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