Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The hawthorn shield bug (Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale) is a common European shield bug. Its chief food is haws, the fruit of the hawthorn tree, but adults can overwinter on a diet of leaves, and individuals can be found on many potential food plants, including pedunculate oak, sessile oak and whitebeam. They may grow up to 17 mm (0.67 in) long, and are camouflaged in shades of green and brown. Like many so-called "stink bugs", they may release unpleasant odours when disturbed.
The dark green scutellum band is trapezoidal in shape, and extends from the dorsal pronotum to the forewing hemelytral membrane which accounts for the final third of the main body length. The front wings lie flat when the insect is not flying, with the sclerotized pronotum and corium regions coloured dark red. The compound eyes are also red. There is a speckled pigmentation extending from the upper dorsal thorax to the abdominal region. The tarsi are 2-segmented and antennae 5-segmented. As a heteropteran herbivore of mainly green leafed trees and red berries, the species feeds by injecting saliva enzymes from the posterior section of the rostrum into plant tissue, partially digesting it, then sucks... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Snowdonia National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 2 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 3 | Cairngorms National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 4 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 5 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 2 | Liverpool | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 3 | Birmingham | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 4 | Dublin | 🇮🇪 Ireland | |
| 5 | Leeds | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 6 | London | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 7 | Copenhagen | 🇩🇰 Denmark | |
| 8 | Stockholm | 🇸🇪 Sweden | |
| 9 | Hamburg | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 10 | Helsinki | 🇫🇮 Finland |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Hawthorn Shield Bug sighting in London on a given day, based on 260 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 149th most-seen of the 1504 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Hawthorn Shield Bug in London on a given day, against about 10% in March to September, the lowest months.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Hawthorn Shield Bug sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
6th of 27
Of the 27 cities where we can rate Hawthorn Shield Bug sightings, London ranks 6th at about 10%. The best odds are in Manchester (United Kingdom, about 20%), Liverpool (United Kingdom, about 20%) and Birmingham (United Kingdom, about 20%).
Same family: Acanthosomatidae
The closest relatives of the Hawthorn Shield Bug that you can see in London (family Acanthosomatidae, Shield Bugs) are Parent Bug (about 10%), Juniper Shield Bug (about 10%) and Birch Shield Bug (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Hawthorn Shield Bug is recorded against all the insects logged in London (260 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
