Picromerus bidens
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
Picromerus bidens, the spiny shieldbug or spiked shieldbug, is a carnivorous species of shield bug in the family Pentatomidae. This species has a wide distribution in the Palaearctic, from 64°N to North Africa and from the British Isles to China. It has also been introduced, probably more than once, to North America, where it has been recorded from more than 180 sites.
These bugs prefer deciduous and mixed forests, heathland, gardens, chalk downland and damp flower-rich meadows. Picromerus bidens is a large (12 to 13.5 mm long) and distinctive predatory shieldbug. It shows a thick rostrum directed away from head. Body colour is quite variable, generally light to dark brown or bluish, with red-brown antennae and legs and two unmistakable thornlike brown projections on the sides of the pronotum (hence the species name bidens, meaning "with two teeth"). Front femurs are armed with a ventral spine distally. The early instar nymphs are commonly reddish, while the final instar nymphs are greyish black, with banded antennae and legs.
Both adults and nymphs of the spiny shieldbugs are predatory, feeding on the larvae... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vanoise National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 2 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 4 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 5 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Helsinki | 🇫🇮 Finland | |
| 2 | Birmingham | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 3 | Warsaw | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 4 | Manchester | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 5 | Toronto | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 6 | Saint Petersburg | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 7 | Moscow | 🇷🇺 Russia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Spiny Shield Bug sighting in Vanoise National Park on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 220th most-seen of the 308 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Spiny Shield Bug in Vanoise National Park on a given day, against under 5% in November to May, the lowest months.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Spiny 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.
Yes
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Spiny Shield Bug sightings, Vanoise National Park has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come Pyrénées National Park (France, under 5%) and Bavarian Forest National Park (Germany, under 5%).
Same family: Pentatomidae
The closest relatives of the Spiny Shield Bug that you can see in Vanoise National Park (family Pentatomidae, Stink Bugs) are Sloe Bug (about 30%), Eurydema rotundicollis (about 20%) and European Striped Shield Bug (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Spiny Shield Bug is recorded against all the insects logged in Vanoise National Park (6 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
