Foto: Paweł Niemiec

Graphosoma lineatum (Graphosoma lineatum)

A shield bug with a beautiful coloration. The body of the insect is red, with black bars at the top, at the bottom it has black spots. These are warning colors which indicate to the attackers: “I am poisonous”. The intense colors are often used in nature as a warning (e.g. in a toadstool). Its scent glands serve also for defense. When in danger it gives off a very unpleasant odor. It is better not touch the insect because you can get proof of it in a most unpleasant way. Graphosoma lineatum grows up to a length of 1 cm. It is a thermophilous species. We encounter it on well sunlit meadows on southern slopes. It feeds on plants of the umbelliferae family whose small flowers collected into an inflorescence will create a kind of a canopy. It eats exclusively the sap of these plants. Before laying eggs the female will play a specific mating ritual with the male. From the eggs hatch the larvae which are tenderly cared for by their mother. Alarmed young hide under her like chickens under the hen. The larvae look like their parents. After five moultings they reach maturity. Graphosoma lineatum is a species which came from southern Europe. Twenty years ago it was a rarity in the Odra River valley. It is now widely observed which may be evidence of the present climate change.