The New Forest shieldbug is a tiny shieldbug, only 3/16–1/4 in (4.5–7 mm) long, with a pair of pale spots on its back. It is not found in the United States; it lives in Europe and in East Asia, including Korea and Japan, where it is known as a pest of ripening rice. In Britain, where it gets its common name, it is very scarce and mostly found in the New Forest area and the Isle of Wight.
Appearance
- Appearance
- A small, yellowish- to grayish-brown shieldbug about 3/16–1/4 in (4.5–7 mm) long. The front corners of the thorax are pointed, and there is a pale spot at each front corner of the .
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- damp heathland and acid grassland (Britain)
- rice paddies and grassy edges (East Asia)
- Range
- Europe and East Asia, including Korea and Japan. It does not occur in the United States.
- Preferred conditions
- In Britain, nearly all recent records come from damp heathland and acid grassland in Hampshire's New Forest and on the Isle of Wight.
Behavior
- Diet
- It sucks plant juices. In Japan it feeds on grasses, wheat, and rice heads as the grains fill, and in Korea it is one of the bugs that leave stained, "pecky" rice.
- Activity
- Adults can be found all year. In Britain, new adults appear from August or September.
- Overwintering
- In Japan, adults overwinter near the base of dead grasses.
Life cycle
- Reproduction
- In Britain it has one generation a year. In Japan, it builds up in grassy areas around paddies and moves into the rice fields when the rice heads out.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
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