Common grain bug
| Common grain bug | ||||||||||||
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Common grain bug ( Eurygaster maura ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Eurygaster maura | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
The common grain bug ( Eurygaster maura ) is a type of bug from the family of the shield bugs (Scutelleridae).
features
The animals reach a body length of 8.5 to 10 millimeters. They have a variable brown basic color and pattern. The similar turtle bug ( Eurygaster testudinaria ) is slightly larger and differs in the tylus (forehead wedge), which in the similar species is slightly lower at the tip of the head than the cheeks lying to the side of it. In the case of the common grain bug, the tylus lies on the same level as the cheeks, so that the tip of the head is evenly edged. The second part of the antennae is twice as long in the common grain bug as the third; in the similar species it is only about 1.5 times as long. The back corners of the pronotum are also a little less prominent in the common grain bug. With the above-mentioned distinguishing features, however, the two species cannot always be clearly distinguished, so that a genital morphological examination is then necessary. The females of the common grain bug lack the gap between the genital plates and the abdominal segment in front of it, while in the males the aedeagus has two internal thorns.
distribution and habitat
The species is widespread in almost all of Europe as well as in North Africa and further east to Central Asia. It is also found in North America. In Central Europe it is the most common species of its genus and can be found everywhere, even if it occurs much less frequently in the north-west than in the south and east. The species inhabits dry, open to partially shaded habitats with vegetation of sweet grasses , but it can also be found in fields on grain.
Way of life
The animals live on sweet grasses, such as ostrich grasses ( Agrostis ), bromides ( Bromus ), ball grasses ( Dactylis ) and fescue ( Festuca ). Like the closely related Eurygaster austriaca , older nymphs and adults can also be found on other plants, in particular on sunflowers such as z. B. on knapweed ( Centaurea ), ring thistles ( Carduus ), thistles ( Cirsium ) or camomiles ( Matricaria ).
The nymphs can be observed from May to August, the adults appear from July. Parallel to the adult animals, nymphs can also appear in autumn to October, but they do not survive winter.
supporting documents
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Eurygaster maura. British Bugs, accessed November 16, 2013 .
- ↑ a b Turtle bug - Eurygaster testudinaria (GEOFFROY, 1785). www.natur-in-nrw.de, accessed on November 16, 2013 .
- ↑ a b c d Ekkehard Wachmann , Albert Melber, Jürgen Deckert: Bugs. Volume 4: Pentatomomorpha II: Pentatomoidea: Cydnidae, Thyreocoridae, Plataspidae, Acanthosomatidae, Scutelleridae, Pentatomidae. (= The animal world of Germany and the adjacent parts of the sea according to their characteristics and their way of life . 81st part). Goecke & Evers, Keltern 2008, ISBN 978-3-937783-36-9 , pp. 66 .
- ↑ Common grain bug. (No longer available online.) Insects and spiders from Berlin and Brandenburg, archived from the original on June 11, 2015 ; Retrieved November 16, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
literature
- Ekkehard Wachmann , Albert Melber, Jürgen Deckert: Bugs. Volume 4: Pentatomomorpha II: Pentatomoidea: Cydnidae, Thyreocoridae, Plataspidae, Acanthosomatidae, Scutelleridae, Pentatomidae. (= The animal world of Germany and the adjacent parts of the sea according to their characteristics and their way of life . 81st part). Goecke & Evers, Keltern 2008, ISBN 978-3-937783-36-9 .
Web links
- Eurygaster maura at Fauna Europaea