''Graphosoma italicum'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of shield bug in the family Pentatomidae. It is also known as the Striped bug (or Italian striped bug) and Minstrel bug.

Description

''G. italicum'' can reach a length of . The body is almost round, with a large shield. The basic color of the upperside of the body is red, with wide black longitudinal stripes. The pronotum has six black bands. The antennae are black. Also the sides of the abdominal segments (connexivum) are red with many small black spots. The legs are mostly black, which distinguishes it from its relative, '' G. lineatum''.

Taxonomy

''Graphosoma italicum'' had been regarded as either a subspecies, or a synonym, of ''G. lineatum'' for over 100 years, so nearly all of the existing literature prior to 2007 referred to this species under the name ''lineatum''. The validity of ''G. italicum'' was reestablished via DNA analysis, which demonstrated that the sister species to ''G. italicum'' is '' G. rubrolineatum'', while ''G. lineatum'' is more closely related to '' G. semipunctatum''.R. Lupoli & F. Dusoulier (2006) ''Les Punaises Pentatomoidea de France.'' Ancyrosoma R. Lupoli
''Graphosoma lineatum'' (L., 1758) and ''G. italicum'' (O.F. Müller, 1766), two valid and distinct species, probably derived from the Zanclean mediterranean transgression (Hemiptera Pentatomidae)
L'Entomologiste T73 n°1 (2017) pp. 19-33.

Subspecies

* ''G. i. italicum'' (Müller, 1766) - nominate subspecies * ''G. i. sardiniensis'' Lupoli, 2017 - with reddish legs, similar to ''G. lineatum'', and

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

Similar species

* ''Graphosoma lineatum'' (Linnaeus, 1758) - The legs are orange. The distribution is restricted to Northern Africa and

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

. * ''Graphosoma semipunctatum'' (Fabricius, 1775) - The legs are orange, the red and black bands are interrupted on the pronotum, where they form black points. The distribution is restricted to the Mediterranean region. * ''

Graphosoma melanoxanthum __NOTOC__ ''Graphosoma'' is a genus bugs in the family Pentatomidae. They are commonly known as striped shield bugs for their distinctive markings. Species Subgenus ''Graphosoma'' *''Graphosoma alkani'' Lodos, 1959 *''Graphosoma consimile'' Horv ...

'' Horvath, 1903 - Dark connexivi with small red points, it is distributed in South

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Distribution

''G. italicum'' is distributed across the Western Palearctic and occurs in the entire

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

area, with the northern limit of distribution fluctuating strongly. In recent decades, the northern border in western and central

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

has expanded strongly to the north, so that the species now occurs as far as the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

and

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

(

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

and southern

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

). In

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, the type occurs everywhere with exception of the northwest and is not rare regionally. In

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, it is widespread, but only locally frequent. The insects populate open to half-shady areas in dry to more humid habitats. The subspecies ''G. i. sardiniensis'' occurs only in Sardinia.

Biology

''G. italicum'' is an insect of warm and sunny areas. It prefers warm slopes and meadows located on south-facing slopes. The orange and black warning colours (

aposematism Aposematism is the advertising by an animal to potential predators that it is not worth attacking or eating. This unprofitability may consist of any defences which make the prey difficult to kill and eat, such as toxicity, venom, foul taste or ...

) indicate that the insects are foul-tasting, protecting them from predators. The nymphs do not have the orange-black stripe pattern, instead they are mostly brownish. These shield bugs are frequently found on the umbels of Apiaceae (''

Daucus ''Daucus'' is a worldwide genus of herbaceous plants of the celery family Apiaceae of which the best-known species is the cultivated carrot. ''Daucus'' has about 25 species. The oldest carrot fossil is 1.3 Ma, and was found on the island of Made ...

'', '' Heracleum'', '' Anthriscus'', '' Foeniculum'', etc.), plants which themselves are chemically-protected. Graphosoma italicum, nymph.jpg, Nymph Italian striped bug (Graphosoma lineatum italicum) mating.jpg, mating (dorsal view) Graphosoma italicum August 2007-3.jpg, mating (ventral view) Graphosoma lineatum.ogv, thumbtime=25

References

External links

Biolib
{{Taxonbar, from=Q56085742 Podopinae Aposematic species Articles containing video clips Insects described in 1766 Hemiptera of Europe Taxa named by Otto Friedrich Müller