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Sticker of Black-shouldered shieldbug
Bug card No. 0478 of 4,939

Black-shouldered shieldbug

Carpocoris purpureipennis
Eats: PlantsTrue bugs and cicadasGardens and meadows6 legs

The black-shouldered shieldbug has a body shaped like a shield. It can be purple, reddish brown or yellowish, and the pointed corners of its shoulders are black. Its feelers are black and its legs are orange.

Lives in
Most of Europe and central Asia, in meadows, roadsides and gardens
Length
1.1 to 1.3 cm (0.43 to 0.51 in)
Top speed
about 0.21 km/h (0.13 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless to people. Farmers do not like it much, because it can damage crops.
What does it eat?
It sucks the juice of thistles and drinks nectar from daisies. It feeds on many other plants too.
For real!Photo of Black-shouldered shieldbug
Picture by Ivar Leidus. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Black-shouldered shieldbug about 1.3 cm long (0.51 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 17 seconds

How big is Black-shouldered shieldbug compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

The mother lays her eggs in late May or early June on grasses, clover and other plants.

2

It can nibble on beans, cabbages, carrots, strawberries and apple trees.

3

It looks so much like some of its cousins that even experts can mix them up.

4

Its back sometimes has short black stripes and black spots.

you asked

Most asked questions about Black-shouldered shieldbug

?Is the black-shouldered shieldbug dangerous?

No. It is harmless to people, but it can damage crops in fields and gardens.

?How big is the black-shouldered shieldbug?

It is about 11 to 13 millimetres long.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Carpocoris purpureipennis
Named by
De Geer, 1773
Group
True bugs and cicadas
Family
Pentatomidae
Classification
Insecta > Hemiptera > Pentatomidae
Lives on
Europe, Asia

Where the facts come from

  1. Carpocoris purpureipennis (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 Ivar Leidus. 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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More from the same group: True bugs and cicadas

Also at home here: Gardens and meadows

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