Zicrona caerulea

Zicrona caerulea
Adults of Zicrona caerulea
Nymph of Zicrona caerulea preying a larva
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera
Family: Pentatomidae
Genus: Zicrona
Species: Z. caerulea
Binomial name
Zicrona caerulea
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
  • Cimex caeruleus
Aggregation of nymphs

Zicrona caerulea, common name Blue Shieldbug, is a species of bugs belonging to the Pentatomidae family.

Description

Zicrona caerulea can reach an adult size of about 5–8 millimetres (0.20–0.31 in). The body is uniformly metallic blue-green (hence the Latin name caerulea, meaning blue). In the immatures the abdomen is red with black markings.

These bugs are useful predators of leaf beetles in the genus Altica, of larvae of various beetles and caterpillars of moths, but it also feeds on plants. Eggs are laid in the spring. New adults of this univoltine species can be found from July onwards. This bug overwinters as an adult.

Distribution and habitat

This species is present in Eurasia and in North America. Its natural habitat consists of low vegetation in moors, heaths, damp grassland and forest edges.

References

Wikispecies has information related to: Zicrona caerulea
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Zicrona caerulea.

External links


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, May 06, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.