#parent bug

Parent Bug (Elasmucha grisea)

Family: Acanthosomatidae (Typical Shield Bug Family)

IUCN Conservation Status: Unassessed

True to its name, the Parent Bug is unusual among insects in that it cares for its young (the majority of insects will leave their eggs as soon as they are laid, and even species that care for their eggs will typically leave the larvae to fend for themselves as soon as they hatch.) Shortly after mating in the spring a female will fly to a suitable host tree and lay a large cluster of pale yellow eggs on the underside of a leaf. She will then stand over her eggs and aggressively defend them from potential predators such as ants, beetles, earwigs and parasitic wasps, responding to potential threats by flapping her wings, lurching forwards and producing a foul-smelling chemical from glands in her abdomen and metathorax (the rear segment of her body.) Once the larvae (which resemble smaller, duller-coloured adults) hatch they remain in a cluster underneath their mother and feed on their egg shell while she continues to stand guard over them - if they try to leave the cluster before they are old enough she will use her antennae to gently push them back. As the larvae develop they will begin to make short trips off of the leaf they were born on to feed on the sap of their host tree, with their mother continuing to follow them closely to protect them as they do so. By late July and early August the larvae reach the final stage of their development and will split off into smaller groups and leave their leaf to transition into adulthood, and by spring of the next year they will be ready to have young of their own. Found across almost all of Europe, adult Parent Bugs are active year round and are primarily found on the leaves and branches of birches (although they may also be found on spruce, beech, alder or holly trees.) They feed almost exclusively on the sap of their host trees which they are able to efficiently digest thanks to symbiotic enzyme-producing bacteria that inhabit their digestive tracts, and mother Parent Bugs will deliberately cover their eggs in this bacteria so that they can be passed into the digestive tracts of their young once they eat their eggshells.  

Cell phone macro... (Elasmucha grisea)... (Parent Bug)...

Almindelig birketæge (Elasmucha grisea)

A female parent bug (Elasmucha grisea) protects her babies from an approaching threat, a mirid bug. Very few insects offer any parental care, usually just laying eggs on the appropriate food plant or other food source. The common earwig (Forficula auricularia) is one of the few other species that cares for their young - Photograph: Rupert Higgins