Strange goings on in the Conservatory

This picture is of the adult Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina), taken on the 7th October. I noticed it crawling up the outside window of my bedroom, and I think it must have been looking for somewhere to hibernate. Most shieldbugs over-winter as adults and this species changes to brown during the winter, but quickly regains the green colouration when it becomes active again in spring. It is very common and widespread in southern and central England, Wales and Ireland, becoming more scarce further north. It is found in woodlands, hedgerows, parks, gardens and waste ground.

What is interesting for me is this picture, taken on the 29th May. There was a cluster of eggs attached to my conservatory wall, which I had noticed earlier in the month. I checked them every day and imagine my surprise and delight when I saw that they had hatched out into these beautifully decorated little rascals. At the time, I had no idea that they were the larvae of the Green Shieldbug, until I obtained the wonderful book "A Photographic Guide to the Shieldbugs and Squashbugs of the British Isles" by Martin Evans and Roger Edmondson. The larvae normally hatch out between June and early October, therefore mine were a couple of days premature probably due to the heat in the conservatory.