European tarnished plant bug
Lygus rugulipennis
The European tarnished plant bug is a small bug that comes in many colours, from purple to yellowish brown. It is very common in gardens and anywhere with lots of plants. It has fine hairs on its front wings and bristly legs.
Lives in
Most of Europe and North America, in gardens and green, leafy places
Length
5 to 6 mm (0.2 to 0.24 in)
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless to people. Farmers see it as a pest because it feeds on crops.
What does it eat?
It sucks juice from many kinds of plants, such as clover, nettles, cabbage, potatoes and grain.
How big is it?
How long is it?
💅small enough to sit on your fingernail🍽️could run across a dinner table in 26 seconds
How big is European tarnished plant bug compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
How fast is it?
A garden snail about 0.05 km/h (0.03 mph)
European tarnished plant bug about 0.14 km/h (0.09 mph)
A tortoise about 0.3 km/h (0.19 mph)
A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
Males usually have stronger markings than females.
2
Females are often dark red to light reddish brown.
3
You can find grown-ups all year round, but most of them in late summer.
4
It spends the winter hidden in fallen leaves.
you asked
Most asked questions about European tarnished plant bug
?How big is the European tarnished plant bug?
It is 5 to 6 millimetres long.
?Is the European tarnished plant bug harmful?
Not to people, but it eats crops like potatoes and grain, so farmers call it a pest.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Lygus rugulipennis
- Group
- True bugs and cicadas
- Family
- Miridae
- Classification
- Insecta > Hemiptera > Miridae
- Lives on
- Europe, North America
Where the facts come from
- Lygus rugulipennis (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- 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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