Green Nymph - _TNY_5166
Shieldbugs aren't beetles. Istead they belong to the true bugs, Hemiptera (meaning half-wings). Their ability to spray a stinky liquid skunk-style as a defensive measure when feeling threatened is the reason why they in North America instead are know as "stink bugs".
Their mouthparts don't have mandibles like beetles do and instead they are in the form of a rostrum, suitable for sucking, either plant juice or the innards of other bugs (yes, there are predatory shield bugs as well.)
In Swedish, they are known as bärfisar (singular: bärfis), literally meaning "berry farts".
Unlike beetles which start off as larvae, true bugs hatch as tiny nymphs, looking like a variation on the adult form and then they will pass moult into four or so more nymph stages until they reach the adult form, imago.
This here is a green shieldbug (Palomena prasina) in one of the later instar stages.
The easiest way to tell it is a nymph and not imago is to look for wings - only the adult form has wings on their backs. Incidently, the life cycle of grasshoppers work the same way (including the wings).
Green Nymph - _TNY_5166
Shieldbugs aren't beetles. Istead they belong to the true bugs, Hemiptera (meaning half-wings). Their ability to spray a stinky liquid skunk-style as a defensive measure when feeling threatened is the reason why they in North America instead are know as "stink bugs".
Their mouthparts don't have mandibles like beetles do and instead they are in the form of a rostrum, suitable for sucking, either plant juice or the innards of other bugs (yes, there are predatory shield bugs as well.)
In Swedish, they are known as bärfisar (singular: bärfis), literally meaning "berry farts".
Unlike beetles which start off as larvae, true bugs hatch as tiny nymphs, looking like a variation on the adult form and then they will pass moult into four or so more nymph stages until they reach the adult form, imago.
This here is a green shieldbug (Palomena prasina) in one of the later instar stages.
The easiest way to tell it is a nymph and not imago is to look for wings - only the adult form has wings on their backs. Incidently, the life cycle of grasshoppers work the same way (including the wings).