Woundwort Shieldbug

We always get shieldbugs sucking the juice out of our garden raspberries, but usually just the very common Green Shieldbugs (Palomena prasina). Yesterday, however, they were joined by this small but distinctive Woundwort Shieldbug (Eysarcoris venustissimus).

Woundwort Shieldbug

I saw this species in Cornwall earlier this year, but this is the first time I've seen it in Wales. I leave an 'understorey' of Hedge Woundwort to grow beneath the raspberries, as the solitary bees are fond of the flowers, so this presumably explains the origin of the shieldbug.

We've also had an explosion of Birch Shieldbugs (Elasmostethus intersinctus) in the garden recently, with double figure counts in the moth trap some nights, along with occasional Red-legged Shieldbugs (Pentatoma rufipes).

George (Llandaff North)