NATIVE RANGE: East-Asia

FIRST FINDING IN SLOVENIA: 2017

PATHWAYS: hitchhiker with goods and on/in vehickles 

POSSIBLE TO FIND: year-round

FLIGHT SEASON OF ADULTS: year-round

DESCRIPTION: A greyish-brown bug, 12–17 mm long. The body is shield-shaped, the antennae dark with light bands. On the edge of the abdomen there are alternating dark and light triangular patches. Inside the dark patches, is a yellowish spot. There are also a few pale yellow spots on the front edges of pronotum and scutellum. The membranous part of the forewing has dark stripes. Females lay white eggs in a single-layered cluster (egg mass). It feeds on various plant parts, which causes them to decay and dry.

HABITAT: Found on a wide variety of trees, bushes and herbs in both agricultural and urban environments and in natural habitats. Adult bugs often hibernate in houses.

STATUS: Widespread throughout Europe. In Slovenia first found in 2017 in the Goričko region and in 2018 around Ljubljana. Spreading rapidly.

SIMILAR SPECIES: Mottled stink bug (Rhaphigaster nebulosa) lacks the light spots on the pronotum and scutellum while the light patches on the edge of the abdomen are square. It also lacks the light spots in the dark patches on the abdomen. The brownish forms of the southern green stink bug (Nezara viridula) have a similar brown colour in autumn and early spring, but its pygidium (“tail”) is uniform brown without dark stripes or spots.

SOURCE: Field Guide to Invasive Alien Species in European Forests