Heterogaster urticae

Heterogaster urticae, common name nettle ground bug, is a species of true bug in the family Heterogastridae. [1][2][3][4]

Heterogaster urticae
Heterogaster urticae. Adult
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera
Family: Heterogastridae
Genus: Heterogaster
Species:
H. urticae
Binomial name
Heterogaster urticae
(Fabricius, 1775)
Synonyms[1][2]

Distribution

This species can be found in Africa, Europe, Northern Asia (excluding China), New Zealand and North America.[1][2][4][5][6]

Description

Heterogaster urticae can reach a body length of about 6–7 mm (0.24–0.28 in).[4] 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.[6] [7][8]

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. [7] The main hosts plants in Europe are the stinging nettles (Urtica dioica), but the bugs have been also reported on other species of Urtica and on roots of the marram grass (Ammophila arenaria) (Poaceae).[4][6][8]

  • Mating
  • Nymph
  • Imago

References
  1. "Heterogaster urticae species details". Catalogue of Life. Retrieved 2018-05-04.
  2. "Heterogaster urticae Report". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 2018-05-04.
  3. "Heterogaster urticae". GBIF. Retrieved 2018-05-04.
  4. "Heterogaster urticae Species Information". BugGuide.net. Retrieved 2018-05-04.
  5. 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/10.4289/0013-8797.115.2.189
  6. G. G. E. Scudder, A. C. Eyles. Heterogaster urticae (Hemiptera: Heterogastridae), a new alien species and family to New Zealand. Archived 2013-02-10 at the Wayback Machine The Weta. 25, s. 8–13
  7. British Bugs
  8. Natur in NRW (in German)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.