Shield bug

English name: shield bug

Scientific name: Oncacontias vittatus (Fabricius)
order = Hemiptera; family = Acanthosomatidae

• was one of the first insects from Aotearoa / New Zealand to be described by a European scientist (by the Swedish entomologist Fabricius in 1781), from collections made during Captain Cook's visits;
• occurs throughout Aotearoa / New Zealand in many habitats;
• produces one generation each year;
• nymphs seem to prefer grasses, especially toetoe;
• adults apparently feed on a wide range of endemic plants;
• is one of very few species of plant bug in Aotearoa / New Zealand known to feed on "hard-leaved" trees such as rimu.

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