Shield bug: chemical troops on raspberry bushes (8 photos)

We know it as that green bastard with its own "cologne" that mercilessly attacks gardens and vegetable plots. But is this shield bug such a clear-cut villain? Rumor has it that this bug has taken on other pests.





Dacha memories unlocked. Congratulations, you can now taste the bug on your tongue.

You won't have to go far to find the creature. The insect has colonized all of Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East. Only unbearable cold and scorching heat can stop the miasma of the hated bug. Or rather, the absence of its favorite fruits and fruit trees in such extreme temperature zones.



For some, it's one berry. And for others, a whole life!

A photofit of a garden and vegetable garden violator can be made by anyone. A brown or green body 1-2 cm long, angular shapes, an empty look without a glimmer of intelligence - these are the signs of this odorous element. It is found right at the scene of the crime: where there is sweet juice that is easy to get to. For us, this significant meeting usually takes place among berry bushes and on fruit trees. Even nuts suffer from hungry shield bugs. The bug is one of the main pests of the common hazelnut.





Raspberry berry, beckoned bugs to itself. Raspberry berry, called for a visit in the summer.

The bug is completely lazy to chew and gnaw, so it constantly carries with it a straw for berry cocktails, built into its mouth apparatus. All that remains is to find the fruit, make a puncture and enjoy a refreshing drink.



And they can fly! But they do it rarely.

What kind of nasty stuff does a bedbug release when you come into contact with it? It's just some kind of enzyme with a very complex chemical formula. It's harmless to humans, but it can cause spasms in smaller creatures. Another key to the bedbug's survival is that no one eats such a stinker. By the way, bedbugs use this same stench to find a partner.



Just don't make any unnecessary movements, man. My gun is loaded and very smelly!

And what about the pests? Does the shield bug pierce and drink them too? They say that the green and smelly one deals not only with the berries in the garden, but also with the Colorado beetles on the potatoes. No! This bug has no excuse, it's just a smelly pest that ruins the harvest!



Don't believe these stories from the Internet! Believe others, where they say that I'm good!

The rumor appeared because of two real predatory bugs - Oris levigatus and the fierce hunter. Rumor has unfairly attributed their talents to the shield bug. The green bug feeds on plant juices from birth to old age. Sometimes carrion flashes in the diet - this is the only animal food it consumes.



This is what real heroes look like! On the left is Oris levigatus, on the right is a fierce hunter.

By the way, about birth. Bed bugs lay small clutches of 20-30 eggs. In the spring, tiny hexagons emerge from them - nymph bugs. These are incomplete bugs that will have to go through five circles of hell, that is, five molts, to become adults. Newborns do not even have a proboscis, they have to sit on the nutrients absorbed from the egg until the first molt.



We will definitely grow up. And we will stink up everything here.

The bug manages to go through all the stages of maturation before mid-summer. Without thinking twice, the insects lay a second batch of babies. And they, in turn, manage to shave offspring by the beginning of autumn. Three generations of scoundrels go into hibernation at once. At the same time, the adults prudently change their color to brown. In this camouflage, they hide among the foliage to cause suffering the following summer! This is one of the few insects that lives for two whole years.