Arthropods Daily – Issue No. 445

The species being described is Synophropsis lauri, a small insect with greyish to brick-red hemelytra, translucent wings, and a sharply pointed vertex. Nymphs are green and over-winter. It was first described in 1897 in Croatia and has since expanded its range rapidly northwards and westwards, reaching countries like France, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, and the United Kingdom. S. lauri is polyphagous, feeding on evergreen broad-leaved trees and shrubs, with European bay laurel being a favorite host plant. It is also a minor pest of olive groves in Turkey.