Birch Shieldbug

These shieldbugs live in Birch trees, overwintering as adults, mating in the spring. Adults are 8 and 11 millimetres long.

Species introduction

At a glance
Latin name: 
Elasmostethus interstinctus
Family: 
Shield bugs
Family Latin name: 
ACANTHOSOMATIDAE
Category: 
Insects other

Species description

Species description

These shieldbugs live in Birch trees, overwintering as adults, and mating in the spring. Adults are between 8 and 11 millimetres in length. When the larvae emerge, they feed on the Birch tree leaves. They are common and widespread in Britain.

Species photographs

Larger photograph(s) (click to magnify)

Details

Species family information

The Acanthosomatidae is a family of shieldbugs that consists of perhaps 200 species. Each species has its own preferred habitat, usually a specific tree or family of trees.

Category information

Insects evolved in the Ordovician from a crustacean ancestral lineage as terrestrial invertebrates with six legs (the Hexapoda). This was the time when terrestrial plants first appeared. In the Devonian some insects developed wings and flight, the first animals to do so. An early flying group was the Odonata from the Carboniferous, the damselflies and dragonflies, which have densely-veined wings and long, ten-segmented bodies. They are day-flying carnivores, with an aquatic larval stage, so are commonly seen flying near water. The carnivorous larvae are called nymphs. Odonata species are short-lived, damselflies surviving for 2-4 weeks, dragonflies for up to 2 months.

Some insect groups in the Cretaceous co-evolved with the flowering plants, and they have had a close association ever since. These groups are the Hymenoptera (bees, wasps, and ants), the Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), the Diptera (flies), and the Coleoptera (beetles). The diversity of beetles is astonishing. Of all the known animal species on the planet, one in five is a beetle!