Piezodorus lituratus

Piezodorus lituratus, the gorse shield bug, is a species of Pentatomidae, a family of shield bugs.[1][2]

Piezodorus lituratus
Late summer adult
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera
Family: Pentatomidae
Subfamily: Pentatominae
Tribe: Piezodorini
Genus: Piezodorus
Species:
P. lituratus
Binomial name
Piezodorus lituratus
(Fabricius, 1794)
Synonyms
  • Cimex lituratus Fabricius, 1794
  • Piezodorus degeeri Fieber, 1860

Varieties
  • Piezodorus lituratus var. lituratus (Fabricius, 1794)
  • Piezodorus lituratus var. alliaceus (Germar, 1823)

Distribution

This species is present in Africa, in most of Europe, in Northern Asia (excluding China) and in North America.[3][4]

Habitat

These shield bugs live in many habitats where host plants are present. They prefer dry and warm habitats, especially with sandy soil.[5]

Description

Piezodorus lituratus can reach a length of 10–13 mm (0.39–0.51 in). These large shieldbugs occur in two adult colour forms. In the spring when they emerge and mate they are predominantly green, while the new generation that appears in the late summer has purplish-red markings on the pronotum and Corium. In autumn they have much paler color, prior to the hibernation they may become darker, but after the hibernation they are bright green.[5]

In the Piezodorus lituratus var. alliaceus the corium shows a uniform yellow-greenish color.

This species could be confused with the green shieldbug, Palomena prasina, but Piezodorus lituratus has a different habitat and red antennae.

Biology

Mating takes place from May to July, the females lay 10 to 20 eggs on the stems, leaves and fruits of the host plants. The nymphs occur until September. The adult of the new summer generation can be found from the end of July or beginning of August. Hibernation takes place as imago.

Main host plants are various legumes (Fabaceae), especially common broom (Sarothamnus scoparius) and dyer’s greenweed (Genista tinctoria), but also alfalfa (Medicago sativa), vetches (Vicia species), sweet-clover (Melilotus species), crown vetches (Coronilla species) sainfoins (Onobrychis species), lupin (Lupinus species) and others.[5]

Life cycle
  • Adult greening after wintering
  • P. lituratus in spring
  • Mating
  • First instar nymph
  • Nymph
  • Nymph
  • Final instar nymph
  • Young adult
  • P. lituratus in autumn
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References
  1. Biolib
  2. ITIS
  3. Fauna europaea
  4. Catalogue of life
  5. British Bugs

Bibliography
  • Gärdenfors Ulf, red (2010). Rödlistade arter i Sverige 2010=The 2010 red list of Swedish species. Uppsala: Artdatabanken i samarbete med Naturvårdsverket. Libris 11818177. ISBN 978-91-88506-35-1
  • Henry, Thomas J., and Richard C. Froeschner, eds. (1988), Catalog of the Heteroptera, or True Bugs, of Canada and the Continental United States
  • Ekkehard Wachmann, Albert Melber, Jürgen Deckert: Wanzen. Band 4: Pentatomomorpha II: Pentatomoidea: Cydnidae, Thyreocoridae, Plataspidae, Acanthosomatidae, Scutelleridae, Pentatomidae. Goecke & Evers, Keltern 2008, ISBN 978-3-937783-36-9.
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