Insect ID.

What's this insect please,I know we have had it before.....
It's camouflaged in the Photinia.

 

Thanks Woo,an interesting unusual little insect,just looked it up and MUST write it down this time....:thumb:

 

Handsome chappie, roders. As Woo said, they come in all sorts of colours and patterns. We've had several different ones in our garden over the years, haven't found many this year though which is a good thing as they are not helpful like ladybirds are.

 

I've actually seen quite a few this year although not as many as ladybirds. I was hand-weeding (groan) a large vegetable patch for a client and came across dozens of them. I dislike killing anything so the job took longer than normal as I had to keep moving them to safety. Regarding shield bugs Kedi, do they peform a function in the garden or are they regarded as pests, and to what?

Chris

 

Hi Boghopper, and from what I've heard, they are regarded as pests.

I think that these are the culprits that gobble the leaves of the Brugmansias, making a total mess of them.

To be honest, I've not found any on Mr K's Bruggies, just elsewhere in the garden, but the leaves of the Bruggies look dreadful at times.

 

Shield bugs fall into two groups. One lot are sap-suckers and cause small puncture wounds in the soft tissue of plants....although generally not enough to cause a problem, as such, since they are highly mobile and don't stay in one place for long unless you have a major population explosion. The second group are carnivorous and will dispatch all manner of insect pests, so are highly valuable in the garden.

Some are also exceptionally pretty, like little rainbow-coloured jewels, particularly when they are nymphs. We are fortunate enough to have the carnivorous Troilus luridus in the garden here - the metallic gold, emerald, scarlet and cream juveniles are amongst the most beautiful of all British insects I'd say.

 

Found one in my kitchen today, trying to suck the sap out of a cupboard.

 

Thank you Kedi and Palmatum, that helps a lot. I'm fascinated by their diversity and colours so don't mind too much if they're baddies or goodies.:wink:

Chris

 

Like Ziggy, I found one in my kitchen window. a pale green one. very pretty but I was unsure of handling it so liberated it back into the wild with a bit of paper.
I expect they don't bite but did not want to find out. :-)