Thorn bug
The thorn bug is a little bug that looks just like a thorn on a branch. It has a tall pointy shield on its back, green or yellow with reddish lines. Birds think it is part of the plant and leave it alone.
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Fun facts
A thorn bug mother lays about 100 eggs in a branch and then stays to guard her babies until they grow up.
If a mother dies, another thorn bug mother may adopt her babies.
Thorn bugs talk to each other with tiny shakes that travel through the branch.
When a wasp comes near, the babies send shaking signals and their mother comes to chase it off.
It cannot live where it freezes, so it stays in warm places.
Most asked questions about Thorn bug
?Why does the thorn bug look like a thorn?
Its pointy back is a disguise. Birds and other hungry animals mistake it for a real thorn.
?Is the thorn bug dangerous?
No. It is harmless to people, although it can harm garden and fruit trees.
?What does the thorn bug eat?
It sucks the sap from inside plant stems.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Umbonia crassicornis
- Group
- True bugs and cicadas
- Family
- Membracidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Hemiptera > Membracidae
- Lives on
- North America, South America
Where the facts come from
- Umbonia crassicornis (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 Marshal Hedin from San Diego. CC BY 2.0, 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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