Rhaphigaster nebulosa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Rhaphigaster nebulosa | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Adult of Rhaphigaster nebulosa in France | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hemiptera |
| Suborder: | Heteroptera |
| Family: | Pentatomidae |
| Genus: | Rhaphigaster |
| Species: | R. nebulosa |
| Binomial name | |
| Rhaphigaster nebulosa (Poda, 1761) | |
Rhaphigaster nebulosa, common name mottled shieldbug, is a species of stink bug that belongs to the family Pentatomidae. It is native to Europe.[1][2]
This species is distributed throughout the Palearctic region, more commonly in the southern than in the northern parts of Central Europe (Austria, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom), and is not known to occur in the United States.[3][4]
Habitat
Mottled shieldbugs prefer warm deciduous forests, parks and gardens.[3]
Description
Rhaphigaster nebulosa can reach a length of 14–16 millimetres (0.55–0.63 in). These large shieldbugs are hairless and coloured dirty yellowish-grey to brown with irregularly-distributed fovea on the top side of its body. The membrane of the forewings is often speckled dark brown, although these speckles are quite variable in extent. The lateral edge (connexivum) of the abdomen has black and yellow markings.[3] The antennae are ringed with black and yellow markings on the 3rd to 5th segments. The underside of the body is light coloured and shows dark spots. On its underside, between the hips (on the 1st sternite), there is a long spur or spine. This species is similar to Dolycoris baccarum, but it lacks hairs.[1][5]
Other species of Rhaphigaster can be confused with this species. In R. nebulosa, the spur on the underside is long enough to reach at least the anterior margin of the procoxae (shorter in R. brevispina). The femurs, mainly the hind femurs, have an isolated black spot on the anteroventral side of the apical half (absent in R. haraldi). The last tarsomere of each leg is largely blackish, and sometimes the first and second tarsomeres have brown or black apices (in R. haraldi all tarsomeres are pale).[6]
