Greenager Teenager - _TNY_0014

This shield bug on a bed of wilted tansies (Tanacetum vulgare) is a green shieldbug (Palomena prasina) in the fifth and final instar stage.

 

Unlike beetles which go from egg to larvae to adult (imago), true bugs like shield bugs have a bunch of intermediate instar stages before they finaly moult into the adult stage.

 

Nymphs don't have the wings that the adults do so they can't fly, but on this one which is the last stage, we can see the embryos of the wings on its back.

 

The green shield bug nymphs come in more than one colour forms so this is also a 5th instar of the same species: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53640811803/

 

And here is a 4th stage: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53164292044/ (notice how much less the wings have developed here.)

 

And finally, this is what the adult looks like: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/53454414762/

Done