The Hairy Shieldbug (Dolycoris baccarum) is a large and distinctive bug, 10-12mm overall. It can be seen as a adult in any month but in winter is a dull brown. This is a bright summer specimen which I found in my wildlife patch a couple of days ago [Mark writes; plus a delay of a couple of weeks while the blog was down!]. I see them quite often, in a variety of habitats, usually resting like this one on a leaf. The leaf is a White Dead-nettle (Lamium album), which is one of its main larval food plants. An alternative name for the bug is the Sloe Shieldbug, but despite the name Sloe doesn’t seem to be a favoured food plant. Most records occur in England south of the Humber and in Wales, however a few records exist north of this, stretching up to southern Scotland.
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A nice beast Paul…as are all shieldbugs of course (I saw the dock shieldbug for the first time the other day).
In the garden a week ago we found a weevil called Platyrhinus resinosus hanging to a pair of trousers on the washing line! It was a very distinctive looking insect and quite rare too I gather (or perhaps just under recorded?). Its larvae feed on cramp balls (also called King Alfred’s Cakes) – those black fungi that grow on ash. Maybe Paul will write about this super insect one day?