Tree Damsel Bug

Because the temperature has dropped a few degrees, I'm merely looking around the garden now to see what I can spot, rather than sweeping or beating inverts from their shelters. Best of the day today was this Tree Damsel Bug (Himacerus apterus), which I found on one of our small forest of Norway maple saplings.

This species is almost always micropterus, meaning that they have tiny wings. I assume, though I don't know, that the small proportion of individuals that are fully winged are able to fly, to help with dispersal, but most of them are flightless - which does at least mean that they can't take off when you point a camera at them. They're about 1cm long, and can be found on a range of deciduous trees, where the females lay their eggs and where they feed on aphids, mites, and other small insects. The species overwinters at the egg stage, and adults are usually only found into late October, so this female is rather bucking the calendar. Larvae are said to appear from around May, though with the climate warming it wouldn't surprise me if they start to show up earlier.

Tree Damsel Bugs are common throughout England and Wales, though numbers decrease the further north you look.