''Heterogaster urticae'', common name nettle ground bug, is a species of

true bug Hemiptera (; ) is an order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising over 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, assassin bugs, bed bugs, and shield bugs. They range in size from to around ...

in the family

Heterogastridae Heterogastridae is a family of lygaeoid bugs consisting of about 20 genera and more than 100 species. The group has been considered a subfamily, tribe and subtribe, but most recently has been restored to family status.Henry, T. J. 1997. Phylogen ...

Distribution

This species can be found in Africa, Europe, Northern Asia (excluding China),

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

.A. G. Wheeler and E. Richard Hoebeke
"Establishment of the Palearctic Heterogaster urticae (F.) (Hemiptera: Lygaeoidea: Heterogastridae) in North America, with New British Columbia Records of the Native H. Behrensii (Uhler)
Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 115(2), 189-196, (1 April 2013). https://doi.org/10.4289/0013-8797.115.2.189G. G. E. Scudder, A. C. Eyles
Heterogaster urticae (Hemiptera: Heterogastridae), a new alien species and family to New Zealand.
The Weta. 25, s. 8–13

Description

''Heterogaster urticae'' can reach a body length of about . These shiny bugs show yellow-brown to brown pronotum and corium. Antennae are gray-yellow. The head and pronotum are covered with whitish long erect hairs. These bugs are also characterized by the alternate dark and light markings on the legs and connexivum. Moreover, fore femora are armed with a single spine and the pale tibiae show three dark annulations. The rostrum reaches only to the middle coxae.
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Biology

Adults overwinter beneath bark or in hollow woody stem. They emerge in the following spring and mate in June and July. During mating male and females may remain coupled together for 3–4 days. Eggs are laid with a copious secretion in the ground near the host plant. Larvae can be found until September. The new generation is complete from late summer onwards. Adults often forms conspicuous aggregations on nettles. The main hosts plants in Europe are the stinging nettles (''

Urtica dioica ''Urtica dioica'', often known as common nettle, burn nettle, stinging nettle (although not all plants of this species sting) or nettle leaf, or just a nettle or stinger, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the family Urticaceae. Ori ...

''), but the bugs have been also reported on other species of

Urtica ''Urtica'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Urticaceae. Many species have stinging hairs and may be called nettles or stinging nettles, although the latter name applies particularly to ''Urtica dioica''. ''Urtica'' species are food f ...

and on roots of the marram grass (''

Ammophila arenaria ''Ammophila arenaria'' is a species of grass in the family Poaceae. It is known by the common names marram grass and European beachgrass. It is one of two species of the genus ''Ammophila (Poaceae), Ammophila''. It is native to the coastlines of ...

'') (

Poaceae Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...

Gallery

File: Nettle Ground Bug - Heterogaster urticae - Flickr - gailhampshire.jpg, Mating File: Heterogaster urticae (Lygaeidae) - (nymph), Elst (Gld), the Netherlands - 2.jpg, Nymph File: Heterogaster urticae (Lygaeidae sp.), Elst (Gld), the Netherlands - 2.jpg, Imago

References

Lygaeoidea Articles created by Qbugbot Insects described in 1775 Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius {{pentatomomorpha-stub