I was just replenishing the leaflet holder at Filnore Woods when I felt something spiky behind my ear. I scooped it out on to the pile of leaflets and saw this green creature lying on its back.
It used its back legs to paddle its way across the paper but when I flipped it over it stayed still for me.
With the help of my Field Studies Council Aidgap 'Guide to Shieldbugs' I identified it as a Hawthorn Shieldbug (Acanthasoma haemorrhoidale). It has fairly sharp 'shoulders' and a green and brown back with a green triangle in the middle. It's a bit darker at this late season just before hibernating. There are little black puncture marks all over its back.
In the spring HSBs mate and lay eggs. The babies are called nymphs and moult up to five times, changing their appearance each time. They mature in August and tuck in to their favourite food which is hawthorn berries. They also like other berries like rowan, whitebeam and cotoneaster.
Like all true bugs they don't have jaws to chew; they have a long, sharp 'rostrum' which is like a syringe. They inject the berry with saliva to soften it up and then suck in the resulting juice. If you look at the top photo you can see where the rostrum lies against buggy's tummy while not in use.
No comments:
Post a Comment
I just love getting comments so go ahead.