''Stagonomus venustissimus'', common name woundwort shieldbug, is a species of shieldbug belonging to the family

Pentatomidae Pentatomidae is a family of insects belonging to the order Hemiptera, generally called shield bugs or stink bugs. Pentatomidae is the largest family in the superfamily Pentatomoidea, and contains around 900 genera and over 4700 species.Robert G ...

, subfamily

Pentatominae Pentatominae is a subfamily of Pentatomidae, a family of shield bugs. This subfamily is the largest one within the Pentatomidae, having 4937 species classified in 938 genera. Species in this subfamily are phytophages and several of them are consid ...

Scientific name

The species was first named by Fabricius as ''Cimex melanocephalus''. However this name had already been used by

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

for the mirid bug now known as '' Phylus melanocephalus'' - at the time, the genus ''Cimex'' encompassed the entirety of the

Heteroptera The Heteroptera are a group of about 40,000 species of insects in the order Hemiptera. They are sometimes called "true bugs", though that name more commonly refers to the Hemiptera as a whole. "Typical bugs" might be used as a more unequivocal al ...

. The replacement name ''Eysarcoris fabricii'' given by Kirkaldy in 1904 was used for many years, but Rider (1998) pointed out the seniority of the name ''venustissimus'', given by Schrank in 1776 (''Schönste Wanze'', most beautiful bug). This species has been recently transferred to the genus '' Stagonomus'', so the correct name is ''Stagonomus venustissimus'' (Schrank, 1776).

Distribution

This species can be found in most of

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 ...

Description

'' Stagonomus venustissimus'' can reach a length of . These small bugs have a greenish-grey body. The head and the pronotum are copper coloured. They have a bronze-purple triangular stain at the base of the scutellum. The connexivum has black and white markings. The legs are whitish with black spotsBritish Bugs
/ref>

Biology

'' Stagonomus venustissimus'' is a

univoltine Voltinism is a term used in biology to indicate the number of broods or generations of an organism in a year. The term is most often applied to insects, and is particularly in use in sericulture, where silkworm varieties vary in their voltinism. ...

species. The larvae are visible from late June to October, while the new generation of adults appear from August through the following July.Nature Network Amiens
/ref> The nymphs feed on hedge woundwort (''

Stachys sylvatica ''Stachys sylvatica'', commonly known as hedge woundwort, whitespot, or sometimes as hedge nettle, is a perennial herbaceous plant growing to tall in woodland and unmanaged grassland. In temperate zones of the northern hemisphere it flowers in ...

''), particularly the seeds, and on ''

Lamiaceae The Lamiaceae ( ) or Labiatae are a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint, deadnettle or sage family. Many of the plants are aromatic in all parts and include widely used culinary herbs like basil, mint, rosemary, sage, savory ...

'' species, especially on white dead-nettle (''

Lamium album ''Lamium album'', commonly called white nettle or white dead-nettle, is a flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae. It is native throughout Europe and Asia, growing in a variety of habitats from open grassland to woodland, generally on moist, fert ...

'').

Gallery

File: Eysarcoris fabricii RF.jpg, Mating File:Nymphen Palomena sp.jpg, Eggs and young nymphs File: Eysarcoris venustissimus Woundwort Shieldbug, adult with final instar Nymph - Flickr - gailhampshire.jpg, Adult with final instar nymph File: Pentatomidae - Eysarcoris venustissimus.JPG, Imago

References

External links

EOL

Biolib

Nature Spot
Eysarcorini Insects described in 1776 Hemiptera of Europe Taxa named by Franz von Paula Schrank {{Pentatomidae-stub