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Sticker of Variegated fruit bug
Bug card No. 4558 of 4,939

Variegated fruit bug

Codophila varia
Eats: PlantsTrue bugs and cicadasGardens and meadows6 legs

The variegated fruit bug is a shield bug, a bug shaped like a little shield. It can be pale yellow, greyish or even blood red. On its head it has three bright stripes, and the big plate on its back has a striking black pattern.

Lives in
Southern and central Europe and Turkey
Length
0.9 to 1.4 cm (0.34 to 0.55 in)
Top speed
about 0.22 km/h (0.14 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 many plants, but mostly from daisy-family plants like globe thistle and from carrot-family plants.
For real!Photo of Variegated fruit bug
Picture by Hectonichus. CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Variegated fruit bug about 1.4 cm long (0.55 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)
as long as 2.5 grains of rice in a rowcould run across a dinner table in 16 seconds

How big is Variegated fruit bug compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

The edge of its body is bright with black spots.

2

The first three parts of its antennae are usually red and the last two are black.

3

You can mostly find it from June to August.

4

It looks very much like another shield bug called Carpocoris pudicus.

you asked

Most asked questions about Variegated fruit bug

?What does the variegated fruit bug eat?

Plant juices, mostly from daisy-family and carrot-family plants.

?How big is the variegated fruit bug?

About 9 to 14 millimetres long.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Codophila varia
Group
True bugs and cicadas
Family
Pentatomidae
Classification
Insecta > Hemiptera > Pentatomidae
Lives on
Europe, Asia

Where the facts come from

  1. Codophila varia (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 3.0, 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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