Birch shield bug
The birch shield bug is a flat bug shaped like a little knight's shield. Its back is bright yellow-green with bold red patches, as if it were painted. If something tries to eat it, it lets out a very bad smell.
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Fun facts
Shield bugs are often called stink bugs because of the smelly liquid they use to scare away enemies.
It spends the winter as a grown-up bug hidden in fallen leaves and wakes up in spring.
The mother lays her eggs on birch leaves and catkins in summer.
The young bugs stay close together in a group while they feed.
Its whole back is covered in tiny black dots, like little pinpricks.
Most asked questions about Birch shield bug
?Is the birch shield bug dangerous?
No. It is harmless, it can just smell bad if you pick it up.
?What does the birch shield bug eat?
It drinks plant juice, mostly from birch trees.
?How big is a birch shield bug?
About 8 to 11 millimetres long, roughly as long as your fingernail.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Elasmostethus interstinctus
- Group
- True bugs and cicadas
- Family
- Acanthosomatidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Hemiptera > Acanthosomatidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia, North America
Where the facts come from
- Elasmostethus interstinctus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Hectonichus. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.
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