Eysarcoris venustissimus

Eysarcoris venustissimus
Adult of Eysarcoris venustissimus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera
Suborder: Heteroptera
Infraorder: Pentatomomorpha
Superfamily: Pentatomoidea
Family: Pentatomidae
Subfamily: Pentatominae
Genus: Eysarcoris
Species: E. venustissimus
Binomial name
Eysarcoris venustissimus
(Schrank, 1776)
Synonyms
  • Cimex melanocephalus Fabricius, 1775 (non Linnaeus, 1767)
  • Eysarcoris fabricii (Kirkaldy, 1904)

Eysarcoris venustissimus, common name woundwort shieldbug, is a species of shieldbug belonging to the family Pentatomidae, subfamily Pentatominae.

Scientific name

The species was first named by Fabricius as Cimex melanocephalus.[1] However this name had already been used by Linnaeus for the mirid bug now known as Phylus melanocephalus - at the time, the genus Cimex encompassed the entirety of the Heteroptera. The replacement name Eysarcoris fabricii given by Kirkaldy in 1904 was used for many years, but Rider (1998)[2] pointed out the name venustissimus given by Schrank to what he called Schönste Wanze - most beautiful bug,[3] and this is now the accepted name.

Distribution

This species can be found in most of Europe.[4][5]

Description

Eysarcoris venustissimus can reach a length of 5–7 millimetres (0.20–0.28 in). These small bugs have a greenish-grey body. The head and the pronotum are copper coloured. They have a bronze-purple triangular stain at the base of the scutellum. The connexivum has black and white markings. The legs are whitish with black spots[6]

Biology

Eysarcoris venustissimus is an univoltine species. The larvae are visible from late June to October, while the new generation of adults appear from August through the following July.[7]

The nymphs feed on hedge woundwort (Stachys sylvatica), particularly the seeds, and on Lamiaceae species, especially on white dead-nettle (Lamium album).[6]

References

  1. ↑ Io. Christ. Fabricius (1775). Systema entomologiae: sistens insectorum classes, ordines, genera, species, adiectis synonymis, locis, descriptionibus, observationibus. Flensburg et Lipsiae (Leipzig). pp. 716-717.
  2. ↑ D. A. Rider (1998). "Nomenclatural changes in the Pentatomoidea (Hemiptera-Heteroptera: Cydnidae, Pentatomidae). II. Species level changes" (PDF). Proceedings of the Washington Entomological Society. 100 (3). p. 453.
  3. ↑ Franciscus de Paula Schrank (1781). Enumeratio insectorum Austriae indigenorum. Augusta Vindelicorum (Augsburg). p. 277.
  4. ↑ Fauna europaea
  5. ↑ D. A. Rider (2006). "Pentatomidae". In Aukema B, Rieger C. Catalogue of the Heteroptera of the Palaearctic Region, vol. 5: Pentatomomorpha II. Amsterdam: Netherlands Entomological Society. ISBN 9789071912283.
  6. 1 2 British Bugs
  7. ↑ Nature Network Amiens


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