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A blue shieldbug, shiny and metallic, walking across a leaf

Blue shieldbug © Vaughn Matthews

A blue shieldbug, metallic blue-green, standing on a leaf with its rostrum stabbed into a smaller, metallic blue beetle

Blue shieldbug with beetle prey © Frank Porch

A final instar blue shieldbug nymph standing on a leaf. It's an oval-shaped bug with a mottled red abdomen with black markings, and a metallic blue lustre to the black head, pronotum and vestigial wings

Final instar blue shieldbug nymph © Frank Porch

Blue shieldbug

This dazzling blue-green shieldbug is a predator, hunting other insects.

Scientific name

Zicrona caerulea

When to see

All year

Species information

Category

Statistics

Length: around 6.5 mm

Conservation status

Common

About

The blue shieldbug can be found on low growing plants in a variety of habitats, from heathland and grassland to woodland rides. It is a predatory bug, using its strong rostrum to pierce the bodies of other insects and suck out their juices. It is particularly keen on leaf beetles, feeding on both adults and larvae. It will also drink water and plant juices. Like most shieldbugs, the blue shieldbug spends the winter as an adult.

How to identify

A medium-sized, metallic blue-green shieldbug. Nymphs (young shieldbugs) have a black head and thorax, with black markings on their bright red abdomen.

Distribution

Widespread across Britain, though rarer and more patchily distributed in Scotland and northern England. A few records from Northern Ireland.

Did you know?

The shiny blue-green colour of this shieldbug is very similar to the colour of some of the leaf beetles that it hunts. It has been suggested that this is an example of aggressive mimicry, where a predator resembles a harmless creature to help it get closer to its prey.