I found this little forest bug Pentatoma rufipes out for a stroll on a patch of willow herb yesterday.
Here you can see that long proboscis - used for eating plants and for impaling the occasional caterpillar - folded back between the front legs.
I wondered what those inflated purple patches were at the point where the hind leg joins the thorax - until I consulted a few books and realised these are the stink glands that give these insects their alternative name - stink bugs. These secrete a noxious smelling fluid to deter predators...........or in this case the paparazzi.
For some excellent pictures of this insect (and remarkable eggs) - see here.
14 comments:
They are amazing little creatures aren't they?
Fascinating little thing.
Stunning Images! I will look out for them. Really beautiful. Are the green ones the same apart from the colour?
A bug to look out for ... Extraordinary eggs, as you say.
Superb captures.
John.
Brilliant macro shots Phil. I only ever seem to see the green variety here.
Beautifully captured.
Certainly are toffeeapple - they were wearing should-pads long before it became fashionable
Looks like a suit of armour, doesn't it Keith..?
There are quite a few species Adrian - check out the British Bugs web site at http://www.britishbugs.org.uk/index.html
I wish I could find some of those eggs Caroline ... I'd love to watch them hatch
Hi John and John, they're slow-moving and don't fly much, so I had time to take quite a few pics..
I'm pretty sure that I've seen a few of these recently, but haven't got around to trying to identify them. I shall try your link because I have photos of several similar but different shieldbugs. Didn't get sprayed with smelly stuf though fortunately.
Hi Mark, there do seem to be a lot around at the moment, I've found a couple on the hawthorn tree in my garden this week. The Field Studies Council publishes a very handy fold-out guide to bugs of the British Isles...cheers, Phil
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