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Sticker of Hypericum rhopalid
Bug card No. 2314 of 4,939

Hypericum rhopalid

Rhopalus subrufus
Eats: PlantsTrue bugs and cicadasGardens and meadows6 legs

This little bug has a striped edge around its back, with dark and light bands like a tiny zebra crossing. It belongs to a family called scentless plant bugs. It loves a yellow flowering plant called St John's wort.

Lives in
Most of Europe, but not Ireland or the far north, in meadows and gardens
Length
7 mm (0.28 in)
Top speed
about 0.15 km/h (0.09 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It does not bite or sting people.
What does it eat?
It sucks juice from St John's wort plants most of all, but it also feeds on many other plants.
For real!Photo of Hypericum rhopalid
Picture by Didier Descouens. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Hypericum rhopalid about 7 mm long (0.28 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)
small enough to sit on your fingernailcould run across a dinner table in 24 seconds

How big is Hypericum rhopalid compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

It is only about 7 millimetres long, smaller than a fingernail.

2

The back part of its front wings is thin and see-through, like a piece of plastic wrap.

3

It lives almost all over Europe, but it is not found in Ireland or in northern Scandinavia.

you asked

Most asked questions about Hypericum rhopalid

?What does the hypericum rhopalid eat?

It mostly drinks plant juice from St John's wort, and also from many other plants.

?Is the hypericum rhopalid harmful?

No. It is a small plant bug that does not bite or sting.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Rhopalus subrufus
Group
True bugs and cicadas
Family
Rhopalidae
Classification
Insecta > Hemiptera > Rhopalidae
Lives on
Europe

Where the facts come from

  1. Rhopalus subrufus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Didier Descouens. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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More from the same group: True bugs and cicadas

Also at home here: Gardens and meadows

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