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Sticker of Mediterranean seed bug
Bug card No. 2820 of 4,939

Mediterranean seed bug

Xanthochilus saturnius
Eats: PlantsTrue bugs and cicadasGardens and meadows6 legs

The Mediterranean seed bug is a small bug with a tidy black and tan pattern. Its head is black and its brown wings each carry a black spot. It likes to snack on seeds.

Lives in
Southern Europe and North America, in sunny places with low plants
Length
6 to 8 mm (0.24 to 0.31 in)
Top speed
about 0.16 km/h (0.1 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It does not bite or sting people.
What does it eat?
It eats plants and fallen seeds, especially from plants in the mint family and mullein.
For real!Photo of Mediterranean seed bug
Picture by Hectonichus. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Mediterranean seed bug about 8 mm long (0.31 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 22 seconds

How big is Mediterranean seed bug compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Grown-up bugs spend the winter huddled together in groups.

2

In spring, in April or May, they wake up and come out again.

3

Grown-ups and young bugs eat side by side on the same plant.

4

The new grown-ups of the year can be seen by July.

you asked

Most asked questions about Mediterranean seed bug

?How big is the Mediterranean seed bug?

It is 6 to 8 millimetres long, smaller than a pea.

?What does the Mediterranean seed bug eat?

It eats plants and seeds, often seeds that have fallen to the ground.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Xanthochilus saturnius
Group
True bugs and cicadas
Family
Rhyparochromidae
Classification
Insecta > Hemiptera > Rhyparochromidae
Lives on
Europe, North America

Where the facts come from

  1. Xanthochilus saturnius (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 Hectonichus. 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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