Gray garden bug

Gray garden bug
	Garden bug ( Rhaphigaster nebulosa )
Systematics
Subordination :	Bed bugs (heteroptera)
Family :	Stink bugs (Pentatomidae)
Subfamily :	Pentatominae
Tribe :	Pentatomini
Genre :	Rhaphigaster
Type :	Gray garden bug
Scientific name
	Rhaphigaster nebulosa
	Poda , 1761

The gray garden bug ( Rhaphigaster nebulosa ) belongs to the family of stink bugs (Pentatomidae). It is also sometimes referred to as the gray field bug.

description

The gray garden bug reaches a length of 14 to 16 millimeters. It is dirty gray-yellow to brown in color with unevenly distributed point pits on the upper side of the body. The membrane of the forewings is often mottled with dark brown. The side edge of the abdomen (connexive) is provided with a black and yellow pattern. The antennae are ringed black and yellow, while the third and fifth antennae are colored light yellow. On the underside there is a long thorn between the hips. The mouth parts are designed as proboscis.

Way of life

The bug lives phytophagous on various deciduous trees. Occasionally she also sucks on dead insects. In late spring the females stick around 40 eggs in strips or slices to parts of the plant. The hatching young bugs are variable in color and have no wings. Only from the third nymph stage onwards , short stub wings can be recognized. To ward off enemies, the young bugs have stink glands on their backs; in the adult animals these are on the underside of the chest. A strong smelling secretion is given off when threatened . The garden bug is not a good flyer, it makes loud humming noises during its clumsy flight.

The gray garden bug is diurnal and loves warmth. Like all stink bugs, it only makes one generation per year. The overwintering takes place on ivy-covered walls. When looking for a suitable winter hiding place (cracks or crevices), she also gets lost in houses. The adults are already active very early in the year on the first warm days.

distribution

The gray garden bug is palearctic, more common in Central Europe in the south than in the north and is the only species of the genus Rhaphigaster here .

In Germany, the species has spread strongly to the north since around the year 2000. After some decades of absence, she was found in Saxony-Anhalt since 1999, in Schleswig-Holstein since 2006 and in Hamburg since 2007. An overlook of the large and conspicuous kind is considered unlikely. At the same time, the species also became noticeably more common in southern Germany, where it was previously only found sporadically, for example in Bavaria. As with earlier observations, the species is much more common in cities than in the surrounding area, which is due to the increased warming of the urban area, which favors the warmth-loving species. Particularly striking are the mass wintering roosts of the species that overwinter as imago, which are indicated by house walls (Bavaria), but also under bark scales of plane trees (Magdeburg).

photos

Rhaphigaster nebulosa
Dorsal view
Ventral view; Belly needle that is typical of this type
Side view
nymph

supporting documents

Ekkehard Wachmann : watch bugs - get to know . J. Neumann - Neudamm, Melsungen 1989, ISBN 3-7888-0554-4

Individual evidence

↑ DJ Werner (2003): The distribution of the gray garden bug Rhaphigaster nebulosa (Heteroptera, Pentatomidae) in Germany. Heteropteron (Bulletin of the Working Group of Central European Heteropterologists) 16: 5-20.
↑ P. Göricke (2005): The occurrence of Rhaphigaster nebulosa (PODA, 1761) (Het., Pentatomidae) in the state of Saxony-Anhalt and the distribution in and around Magdeburg. Heteropteron (Bulletin of the Working Group of Central European Heteropterologists) 20: 3-7.
↑ DJ Werner (2007): Rhaphigaster nebulosa (PODA, 1761) now also in Schleswig-Holstein and - again - in Hamburg. Heteropteron (Bulletin of the Working Group of Central European Heteropterologists) 24: 4
↑ G. Schuster (2005): Bugs from Bavaria IV (Insecta, Heteroptera). Reports of the Natural Research Society Augsburg 62: 63-124.
↑ Bernhard Klausnitzer (2004): Rhaphigaster nebulosa (Poda, 1761) (Het., Pentatomidae) in the urban area of Dresden (Faunistische Notes 777). Entomological News and Reports 48: 135-137.

Web links

Commons : Graue Feldwanze ( Rhaphigaster nebulosa ) - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Fauna Europaea - Rhaphigaster

[1] DJ Werner (2003): The distribution of the gray garden bug Rhaphigaster nebulosa (Heteroptera, Pentatomidae) in Germany. Heteropteron (Bulletin of the Working Group of Central European Heteropterologists) 16: 5-20.

[2] P. Göricke (2005): The occurrence of Rhaphigaster nebulosa (PODA, 1761) (Het., Pentatomidae) in the state of Saxony-Anhalt and the distribution in and around Magdeburg. Heteropteron (Bulletin of the Working Group of Central European Heteropterologists) 20: 3-7.

[3] DJ Werner (2007): Rhaphigaster nebulosa (PODA, 1761) now also in Schleswig-Holstein and - again - in Hamburg. Heteropteron (Bulletin of the Working Group of Central European Heteropterologists) 24: 4

[4] G. Schuster (2005): Bugs from Bavaria IV (Insecta, Heteroptera). Reports of the Natural Research Society Augsburg 62: 63-124.

[5] Bernhard Klausnitzer (2004): Rhaphigaster nebulosa (Poda, 1761) (Het., Pentatomidae) in the urban area of Dresden (Faunistische Notes 777). Entomological News and Reports 48: 135-137.