Day 302 - Beauty of the mini-beasts - Part 10 - Green Shield Bugs

Green Shield Bug (Palomena prasina) second instar

So you can see how small it is - here it is on
Dad's big hairy finger!

Hi everyone, Day 302 and this is one of the smallest minibeasts I've covered for a while. I did aphids and springtails back in a Beauty of the Mini-Beasts series which I started back on Day 93 (that was a brilliant Great Diving Beetle!)  Well looking through my photo's I found these shots which were taken while I was in Norfolk but I can't remember where I saw them. I've developed quite sharp eyes I think with all my nature hunting and the smallest things catch my eye. This was very small, but very pretty and fascinating. I've done other insects since but as this one was so small I thought it out to be part of the mini-beast series!

It puzzled me for a while though trying to identify it as I couldn't find any small half green half black beetles. Took me a while to find out it wasn't a beetle but an early stage of the life cycle of a Green Shield Bug. I don't have any pictures of the adults but I found a lovely Youtube video which I've added below that shows the adults.

Well, I did my research and here's what I found:

Working its way up the plant

• They are most common England and Wales, hardly at all in Scotland, about 3 records, there has been more records in Ireland than in Scotland.

• They are found from Spring to Autumn or more specifically, from May to November, so they can still be seen now.

• They will start of as eggs, as in all bugs, and will then hatch into the first form, from what I've seen will then become a bit bigger for three stages of growth.

• They will them take their next form, which is starting to take the shape of the end bug, it then enlarges and grows a shield. It is then the Shield Bug.

Up to the top

• All of these stages, apart from egg and the adult, are called instars. I don't know why but they just are. My pictures are of the Green Shield bug in its second instar.

• They are usually about 12mm - 13.5 mm long, which is quite small and they could easily get trodden on.

• They can also be called 'Stink bugs' as they will release a smell designed to repel predators away.

• It eats plant sap, leaves of trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants. So, they have quite a varied diet.

Here's the lovely video of the adult bugs

Green Shield Bug Video

Here are a few links to some more information:

NatureSpot - Green Shield Bug

RSPB - Green Shield Bug

All Things Wildliy Considered Blogspot - Green Shield Bug

Hope you enjoyed,

Z.

Day 288 - Fabulously Super and Brilliant Forest Shield Bugs

Hey everyone, today's Day 288 and I thought I'd look at a little insect today that I saw at Kelling Heath while I was on one of my walks around the site. This beastie was found in part of the pine woodland there. I was busy looking at all of the bits pine cone that were all over the floor, the squirrels had been very busy, when I saw it.

Well I did my research and its surprising that I should find it in pine woodland as it seems they feed on deciduous trees. It must have got lost! Well, as you'll know from my photo and title, I'm covering the Forest Shield Bug or Forest bug today.

So, here are the facts:

• Despite being called the Forest Shield Bug, they are also found in Towns and Gardens as well as Heathland.

• Kelling Heath has every single one of these habitats meaning it's a pretty good place to see them. 

Head on with the beastie

• They are found from June all the way to November. Believe it or not, these are the same times that the Yellow Under-Wing (another post I wrote today) are seen.

• They have also been seen in early spring so it might be that they have two breeding cycles.

• When I saw this one I had to look twice, they camouflage perfectly with the Forest floor. This is probably why they are called the Forest Bug.

• This Shield Bug is part of the Family 'Spiked Shield Bugs'. This family has (you guessed it) Spikes on their shoulders!

• The way you tell apart this Shield Bug apart from others is that the Shoulders are 'Square Cut' and Rounded at the front.

• This species spends Winter as a young nymph and eats mainly Oak and other trees such as Alders, Hazel, Apple and Cherry.

• When looking at some pictures on the internet of these, I found what their eggs look like. They are perfect smiley faces! (See the pic on the British Bugs website.)

• They are around 11-14mm long so sometimes quite hard to spot along with their camoflage!

Here are some links to some more information:

The Wildlife Trusts - Forest Bugs

British Bugs - Forest Bugs

UK Safari - Forest Bugs

Hope you enjoyed,

Z.