Shieldbug nymph

We found this red-legged shieldbug Pentatoma rufipes nymph at Alston yesterday. It will go through further moults before it becomes a winged adult.

Here it is flipped over onto its back, when you can see the rostrum - the long, articulated mouthparts that pierce plant tissues like a hypodermic syringe.

Almost as soon as I righted it the shieldbug shuffled over to a leaf vein, pierced it with the tip of its rostrum and began feeding.

For more on shield bugs, click here