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Sticker of Tree damsel bug
Bug card No. 4414 of 4,939

Tree damsel bug

Himacerus apterus
Eats: Other bugs and small animalsTrue bugs and cicadasForests and woods6 legs

The tree damsel bug is a slim reddish brown hunter. Along the edges of its body it has a black border with orange-red spots. It prowls on plants looking for tiny insects to eat.

Lives in
Most of Europe and southern and central Asia
Length
0.8 to 1.1 cm (0.31 to 0.45 in)
Top speed
about 0.2 km/h (0.12 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Not dangerous. It is best to just look and not pick it up.
What does it eat?
It eats mites, aphids and other small insects.
For real!Photo of Tree damsel bug
Picture by AfroBrazilian. CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Tree damsel bug about 1.1 cm long (0.45 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 grains of rice in a rowcould run across a dinner table in 18 seconds

How big is Tree damsel bug compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

It lays its eggs on plant stems in late summer, and they hatch the next spring.

2

Its young ones can be found from May to August.

3

For many years it was also found far away in Nova Scotia, in Canada.

you asked

Most asked questions about Tree damsel bug

?What does the tree damsel bug eat?

Mites, aphids and other small insects.

?How big is the tree damsel bug?

About 8 to 11.5 millimetres long. The females are a little bigger.

For bug experts

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

Where the facts come from

  1. Himacerus apterus (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 AfroBrazilian. 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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