Black-shouldered Shieldbug
Lat. “Carpocoris purpureipennis“
species
of family
“Stink Bugs“
1 species
The Carpocoris purpureipennis species has two subspecies: purpureipennis and sexmaculatus. They are found in Europe and central Asia, inhabiting meadows, roadsides, forest edges, and gardens. The bugs are around 11-13 millimeters long, with a wide pronotum and various body colors ranging from purple to yellowish. They are polyphagous, feeding on various plants and considered agricultural pests. They can cause damage to crops like soybeans, cabbage, potatoes, and apple trees.
Subspecies
Carpocoris purpureipennis purpureipennis (De Geer, 1773) Carpocoris purpureipennis sexmaculatus Péneau, 1921
Distribution and habitat
This species can be found in most of Europe and in central Asia.
Habitat
These shield bugs live in meadows, roadsides, edges of forests and gardens.
Description
Carpocoris purpureipennis can reach a length of 11–13 millimetres (0.43–0.51 in). The pronotum is wide with a regular punctuation, almost straight and slightly pointed lateral margins with blunt tips. Also the lateral edges of the scutellum are nearly straight. The body color varies from purple or reddish-brown to yellowish. The pronotum angles are black. Moreover pronotum usually shows short longitudinal black stripes, while the scutellum may have some contrasting black spots. Antennae are black and legs are orange.This species is quite similar and can be confused with Carpocoris pudicus, Carpocoris fuscispinus and Carpocoris mediterraneus.
Biology
Both the adult bugs and their nymphs are polyphagous. Adults mainly feed on juices of Cirsium arvense and nectar of Leucanthemum vulgare.In late May-early June these insects lay eggs on various herbaceous plants of the family of cereals (Poaceae), legumes (Fabaceae), crucifers (Brassicaceae) and composites (Asteraceae). These bugs are considered an agricultural pest. They can damage soybean, beans, cabbage, carrots, raspberries, strawberries, potatoes, radish, wheat and apple trees.
Bibliography
Rider D.A., 2004 - Family Pentatomidae - Catalogue of the Heteroptera of the Palaearctic Region
External links
EOL Meloidae INPN NCBI Tout un monde dans mon jardin
Ancestry Graph
Further Information
Copyright
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Carpocoris purpureipennis the free encyclopedia Wikipedia which is released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License). On Wikipedia a list of authors is available.