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Suffolk Natural History, Vol. 31
NOTES ON SUFFOLK SHIELDBUGS A. C. HUBBARD Shieldbugs belong to the Heteroptera, a sub-order of Hemiptera. There are representatives of four families in the British Isles, Acanthosomidae (5 spp.), Cydnidae (9 spp.), Scutelleridae (5 spp.), and Pentatomidae (19 spp.). Of these 38 species 7 are mentioned in the Red Data Book for insects, and two have no post-1900 records. It would appear that shieldbugs, and probably bugs in general, have been a rather under recorded group of insects in Suffolk in past years. There are very few shieldbug records on file at the Biological Records Centre at Ipswich Museum. Over the past few years 17 species have been recorded in the county by the author, purely on an Opportunist basis whilst pursuing other natural history interests. Shieldbugs are so called because of their general shape. They vary in size from 3.5mm to 15mm in length. As with all bugs they have three stages to their life history, egg, larva and adult, the larval stage usually consisting of five instars. Many of the species overwinter as adults. Some are specific to certain plants whilst others occur on a ränge of trees, shrubs and low-growing Vegetation. All have sucking mouthparts, and the group contains both herbivorous and carnivorous species. The following gives details of the species recorded with notes on host plants, time of year seen and distribution, the latter based on the 10km Square. Family — Acanthosomidae Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale (Linnaeus) — Hawthorn shieldbug. Overwinters as an adult and has been recorded during January and February in mild winters. Adults observed from July through to November, usually associated with hawthorn; it has been attracted to a MV light during the autumn. TM 06; 14; 15; 16; 23; 24; 25; 34; 35; 45; 46; 47. Cyphostethus tristriatus (Fabricius) — Juniper shieldbug. Although 1 have only five records for this species, it is probably widespread in the county. Several cultivars of Juniper are available from nurseries, and three of the above records have been associated with garden conifers. TM 15; 24; 25; 34; 46. There are old records for Monk Soham T M 2 1 - 6 5 - (1941) and Elmswell T L 9 9 - 6 4 - (1948). Elasmostethus interstinctus (Linnaeus) — Birch shieldbug. Larva have been found in July and adults from August to November. Nearly all the records have been associated with birch; it has also been attracted to MV light. It is frequently seen on the coastal heaths. TM 06; 13; 14; 24; 25; 34; 35; 46; 47. TL 78.
Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 31 (1995)