Thread subject: Diptera.info :: Tachinid egg on Heteroptera
Posted by
sd on 05-10-2011 18:53
#1
Location: Suffolk, UK. Birch trees near water
I swept some Birch trees (Betula) this morning to see if I could find any shieldbugs with Tachinid eggs attached. I had some success I think with the
Elasmostethus interstinctus (Green Birch Shieldbug) individual shown below.
I presume the egg belongs to
Subclytia rotundiventris, or are there other possibilities? Does anyone have suggestions for overwintering shieldbugs - keep them in an outdoor shed would be the main one presumably.
Steve
Posted by
sd on 05-10-2011 18:57
#2
Oops, mis-id of shieldbug. Please correct to Parent Shieldbug,
Elasmucha grisea 
Posted by
ChrisR on 05-10-2011 19:10
#3
It certainly looks like other eggs that have been reared out to
Subclytia ... but I am not sure how many other species lay eggs like that - would be really great if you could rear it out
I keep looking for these but have never found any shieldbugs with eggs on them.
Edited by
ChrisR on 05-10-2011 19:12
#4
While reading this thread I remembered that I met this year an Elasmucha grisea with a similar white spot. I searched for the photos and had a closer look. Now I learned that such annoying spots can have an interesting origin.
Marion
Posted by
Sundew on 05-11-2011 17:57
#5
This summer I saw several shield bugs bearing eggs. I tried to remove them, but they stuck firmly and seemed to be empty - had the fly larva already gotten into the bug?
And
why are all the eggs positioned in nearly the same place, the right upper part of the pronotum?? All our pics show that, so it can hardly have happened by chance, I think.
Edited by
Sundew on 05-11-2011 17:59
Posted by
sd on 10-11-2011 22:28
#6
Yes, I found a second individual with the egg case on the right side.
If you search Bugguide for tachinid egg, a few similar photos turn up with the egg either dorsally or on the right side. Has anyone seen an egg on the left side?
Steve
PS my captive specimens along with a few adults without egg cases are still very much alive, sitting out the Winter in tubes containing moist paper. The parasitised ones appear to have swollen abdomens compared to the others
#7
Cool thread and photos! Patasitism in action!
Posted by
HDumas on 28-11-2011 18:53
#8
Here Tachinids oviposit on both sides of the bug (
Nezara viridula):
Edited by
HDumas on 28-11-2011 18:54
Posted by
ChrisR on 28-11-2011 19:50
#9
Very nice - would be good to keep the bug and see what emerges