Shieldbugs. (1 Viewer)

[harry eales]

I got my first Gorse Shieldbug couple days ago. It was actually in my house! This is the first one I've seen. The other species I've seen this year is Green Shieldug, on a number of occassions.

Hello Angus,
I take it you have Gorse or Broom growing in the near vicinity. It's amazing how many bugs turn up in the oddest locations. It's worth keeping records of what you find, Ireland on the whole, is very poorly recorded, although things are improving.

Harry

 

[Stuart Read]

Am i correct in saying that 1. is a Green Shieldbug & 2. is a Hawthorn Shieldbug, both were beaten from Hawthorn yesterday.
Stuart.

 

[harry eales]

Am i correct in saying that 1. is a Green Shieldbug & 2. is a Hawthorn Shieldbug, both were beaten from Hawthorn yesterday.
Stuart.

Hello Stuart,
Yes you are correct, the Green Shieldbug will change to a lighter green after a few days, at present it appears to be still in its winter colouring.

Harry

 

[steve covey]

Squashbug

Hi again,
not to be out done, one of the squashbugs put in an appearance today near to the Green Shield and Dock bugs. Pretty sure its Rhopalus subrufus [the only one stated as common and not found only on heathland!]
Cheers,
Steve.

 

[Angus T]

Hello Angus,
I take it you have Gorse or Broom growing in the near vicinity. It's amazing how many bugs turn up in the oddest locations. It's worth keeping records of what you find, Ireland on the whole, is very poorly recorded, although things are improving.

Harry

Huge amount of gorse in the area and even in my garden.
Gorse and brambles take over any untended land in my area. Hills are yellow at moment.

So the surprise was that I didn't see any Gorse Shieldbugs last year.

 

[harry eales]

Huge amount of gorse in the area and even in my garden.
Gorse and brambles take over any untended land in my area. Hills are yellow at moment.

So the surprise was that I didn't see any Gorse Shieldbugs last year.

The Gorse Shieldbug is a very common species virtually everwhere in the British Isles. If you have time try a little beating of Gorse on a warm sunny day, I'm confident you will find many more specimens. I have found it on even solitary bushes miles away from the next Gorse or Broom plant.

If you do beat Gorse, wear heavy industrial gloves, otherwise you'll be picking the spines out of your hands for days. I know, I've been there, done than, got the spines, ouch. It's not funny.

Harry

 

[harry eales]

Hi again,
not to be out done, one of the squashbugs put in an appearance today near to the Green Shield and Dock bugs. Pretty sure its Rhopalus subrufus [the only one stated as common and not found only on heathland!]
Cheers,
Steve.

Hello Steve,
Sorry but I cannot confirm your ID, although you may well be correct. I only specialise in the Shieldbugs, and to a lesser extent the Water Bugs.

Harry

 

[Stewart J.]

Hi All, can someone ID this one for me, taken in Bulgaria Sept 2004.

Thanks in anticipation.

Stewart

 

[steve covey]

Hi All, can someone ID this one for me, taken in Bulgaria Sept 2004.

Thanks in anticipation.

Stewart

Hi Stewart,
looks like Graphosoma italicum to me. Pretty distinctive little beast. The only thing that looks like it in 'Chinery'.
Cheers,
Steve.

 

[steve covey]

Hello Steve,
Sorry but I cannot confirm your ID, although you may well be correct. I only specialise in the Shieldbugs, and to a lesser extent the Water Bugs.

Harry

Not a problem Harry.
I ID'd it [rightly or wrongly] from the 'Surrey Shieldbugs' Guide. Process of elimination really, all the others in that family are rare or occur only on sandy heath - which habitat is in very short supply in Wiltshire and none near me!
I believe the Evans and Edmondson guide also covers the squashbugs. I don't have a copy yet [though may get one tomorrow if the Portland Bird Obs. shop stocks it - going there for a day out to 'clear the cobwebs'!]
Must get a decent beating tray now the season is starting. The old umbrella I used last autumn has fallen apart now!
Cheers,

Steve.

 

[Ranger James]

The Gorse Shieldbug is a very common species virtually everwhere in the British Isles. If you have time try a little beating of Gorse on a warm sunny day, I'm confident you will find many more specimens. I have found it on even solitary bushes miles away from the next Gorse or Broom plant.

If you do beat Gorse, wear heavy industrial gloves, otherwise you'll be picking the spines out of your hands for days. I know, I've been there, done than, got the spines, ouch. It's not funny.

Harry

What's the bush/tree/shrub plant to beat?
James

 

[harry eales]

Hi All, can someone ID this one for me, taken in Bulgaria Sept 2004.

Thanks in anticipation.

Stewart

Hello Stewart,
Bulgaria is a little bit out of the range of my Shieldbug textbooks. Unfortunately, there are several red and black striped shieldbugs on the continent and a great many more species that we have here in Britain, and without actually examining the specimen, I couldn't give you a definate ID.

Sorry

Harry

Hi Stewart,
looks like Graphosoma italicum to me. Pretty distinctive little beast. The only thing that looks like it in 'Chinery'.
Cheers,
Steve.

Agghhh, Steve,

As soon as you can get some better quality ID guidebooks, chuck 'Chinery' out. At best, it only gives an idea or clue of what group of species an individual specimen may belong too.

'Chinery' should never, ever, be used to positively ID a species. Dozens of insects look similar to other specimens of the same order, in size shape and colour. Unless an identification book covers all the species of a certain order, positive ID's are impossible to make.

If I had a £1.00 for every misidentification made by people using 'Chinery' that I have had to correct, I could afford a very nice little holiday this year.

Many years ago I purchased a copy of 'Chinery' from a car boot sale for 20p. After getting home and looking at it for half an hour, it was consigned to the loft, and has remained there gathering dust ever since. It's 'Cheap and Cheerful' and thats about all I can say about it.

Harry

 

[Stuart Read]

Hello Stuart,
Yes you are correct, the Green Shieldbug will change to a lighter green after a few days, at present it appears to be still in its winter colouring.

Harry

Thanks, I was wondering why it looked darker/duller than the others i have seen.
Stuart.

 

[steve covey]

Agghhh, Steve,

As soon as you can get some better quality ID guidebooks, chuck 'Chinery' out. At best, it only gives an idea or clue of what group of species an individual specimen may belong too.

'Chinery' should never, ever, be used to positively ID a species. Dozens of insects look similar to other specimens of the same order, in size shape and colour. Unless an identification book covers all the species of a certain order, positive ID's are impossible to make.

If I had a £1.00 for every misidentification made by people using 'Chinery' that I have had to correct, I could afford a very nice little holiday this year.

Many years ago I purchased a copy of 'Chinery' from a car boot sale for 20p. After getting home and looking at it for half an hour, it was consigned to the loft, and has remained there gathering dust ever since. It's 'Cheap and Cheerful' and thats about all I can say about it.

Harry

I agree with you Harry, which was why I said 'looks like'. The only problem is there are precious few guides on the less 'popular' species groups for the continent and those that are available are quite often prohibitively expensive. But Chinery does at least give some idea as to what you are looking at if not to species level. Are there any guides to the continental Shieldbugs by the way?
Cheers,
Steve.

 

[harry eales]

I agree with you Harry, which was why I said 'looks like'. The only problem is there are precious few guides on the less 'popular' species groups for the continent and those that are available are quite often prohibitively expensive. But Chinery does at least give some idea as to what you are looking at if not to species level. Are there any guides to the continental Shieldbugs by the way?
Cheers,
Steve.

Hello Steve,
There is a German pocket guide called 'Wanzen und Zikaden', which I think is now out of print, but there may be odd copies knocking around. As the name suggests it covers more than just the Shieldbugs. I bought my copy from Lydie Rigout who runs a small entomological supply company in Kent. Her Web address is as follows:-

http://www.insects.demon.co.uk/

I hope you can read German, there is no English text. lol. The pictures are reasonably good but several have been incorrectly named. These errors are shown in the 'Shieldbugs of Surrey' by Roger Dawkins which although is basically a local 'Atlas' it is a really excellent book.

There may be other continental books available and a look at the NHBS web site may provide some info. Their address is :- http://www.nhbs.com/
If there are any available it may pay to check to see if they are in English before ordering.

Some Websites worth visiting for pictures of Bugs are :-

http://www.infochembio.ethz.ch/links/zool_insekt_wanzen_baumw.html and

http://www.insektenbox.de/wanzen.htm#4

http://www.gwydir.demon.co.uk/insects/pentatomidae.htm

The texts of these are in English, German and Italian, but the standard Generic and specific names are given so it's not too difficult to understand them. If you do have problems with Italian or German your local library may have suitable English/German/Italian dictionaries. lol.

Harry

 

[steve covey]

Hello Steve,
There is a German pocket guide called 'Wanzen und Zikaden', which I think is now out of print, but there may be odd copies knocking around. As the name suggests it covers more than just the Shieldbugs. I bought my copy from Lydie Rigout who runs a small entomological supply company in Kent. Her Web address is as follows:-

http://www.insects.demon.co.uk/

I hope you can read German, there is no English text. lol. The pictures are reasonably good but several have been incorrectly named. These errors are shown in the 'Shieldbugs of Surrey' by Roger Dawkins which although is basically a local 'Atlas' it is a really excellent book.

There may be other continental books available and a look at the NHBS web site may provide some info. Their address is :- http://www.nhbs.com/
If there are any available it may pay to check to see if they are in English before ordering.

Some Websites worth visiting for pictures of Bugs are :-

http://www.infochembio.ethz.ch/links/zool_insekt_wanzen_baumw.html and

http://www.insektenbox.de/wanzen.htm#4

http://www.gwydir.demon.co.uk/insects/pentatomidae.htm

The texts of these are in English, German and Italian, but the standard Generic and specific names are given so it's not too difficult to understand them. If you do have problems with Italian or German your local library may have suitable English/German/Italian dictionaries. lol.

Harry

Danke Harry

 

[Brian Stone]

Hi All,
the new season is off to a great start for me. Visiting my farm study site I found my first Pied Shieldbug.

Found one of these at Weeting, Norfolk yesterday. They are active little fellas and certainly not easy to get a good pic of Steve.

 

[Surreybirder]

Found one of these at Weeting, Norfolk yesterday. They are active little fellas and certainly not easy to get a good pic of Steve.

Most of us have trouble getting a good pic of Steve -- though I've seen a nice one of him grinning like a Cheshire cat with a long-eared owl (I think it was) in his hands.
Ken

 

[steve covey]

Most of us have trouble getting a good pic of Steve -- though I've seen a nice one of him grinning like a Cheshire cat with a long-eared owl (I think it was) in his hands.
Ken

Barn Owl actually Ken - they wouldn't let me handle the LEO, vicious buggers apparently :eek!: [These were wild mist netted birds by the way, not falconers birds].
They ought to rename that shieldbug, the Pied Greyhound
Not shiedlbugs - or even insects! But I'd like to share a special plant with you. I visited the Glos Wildlife Trusts Pasqueflower reserve near Cirencester today. It has the largest remaining population anywhere in the country - about 20,000 [not all in flower in any one year!]
Cheers,

Steve.

 

[Surreybirder]

Not shiedlbugs - or even insects! But I'd like to share a special plant with you. I visited the Glos Wildlife Trusts Pasqueflower reserve near Cirencester today. It has the largest remaining population anywhere in the country - about 20,000 [not all in flower in any one year!]
Cheers,

Steve.

Very pretty!
Ken