The blue shieldbug is a small stink bug, about 1/4 in (6–8 mm) long, colored an even metallic blue-green. Unlike most of its plant-sucking relatives, it's a predator that hunts small leaf beetles and caterpillars. It's widespread across Europe and Asia and is also found in North America.
Appearance
- Appearance
- Adults are a uniform metallic blue-green with a dark wing membrane. look quite different, with a red abdomen marked in black.
Where it lives
- Range
- Europe, North Africa, and much of Asia. It also occurs in North America: Oregon's agriculture department lists it as found across the United States. Records are sparse in some areas; a 2021 report from Quebec was only the second record for that province, the first being a specimen from 1933.
- Preferred conditions
- In Europe it lives on low vegetation in damp grassland, heaths and moors, and forest edges.
Behavior
- Diet
- In Europe it mainly hunts flea beetles in the genus Altica, plus larvae of other beetles and moth caterpillars. It also sometimes feeds on plants.
- Overwintering
- Overwinters as an adult.
Life cycle
- Reproduction
- In Europe, eggs are laid in spring and there's one generation a year. New adults appear from July on.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
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