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Sticker of Marsh damsel bug
Bug card No. 2772 of 4,939

Marsh damsel bug

Nabis limbatus
Eats: Other bugs and small animalsTrue bugs and cicadasGardens and meadows6 legs

The marsh damsel bug is a slim little hunter that creeps through tall, damp grass. It looks gentle, but it catches other small bugs for food. Most of them have very short wings, so they walk and climb instead of flying.

Lives in
Europe and across Asia to China and Korea, and now Canada, in tall damp grass
Top speed
about 0.2 km/h (0.12 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless for people. It is a hunter of tiny bugs, so it is best to watch it and not squeeze it.
What does it eat?
It hunts all sorts of small creatures, both on the ground and up in the plants.
For real!Photo of Marsh damsel bug
Picture by Edward Saunders. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

It spends the winter as an egg, tucked inside a blade of grass or a plant stem.

2

The young bugs, called nymphs, change their skin four times before they are grown up.

3

In the Alps it climbs as high as about 1,400 metres up the mountains.

you asked

Most asked questions about Marsh damsel bug

?What does the marsh damsel bug eat?

Other small creatures. It is not picky and hunts whatever little prey it can catch.

?Where can you find a marsh damsel bug?

In tall grass in damp places, like the edges of woods, paths and wet meadows.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Nabis limbatus
Group
True bugs and cicadas
Family
Nabidae
Classification
Insecta > Hemiptera > Nabidae
Lives on
Europe, Asia, North America

Where the facts come from

  1. Nabis limbatus (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 Edward Saunders. Public domain, 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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