Oxycarenus lavaterae - 5, Netherlands
A fresh observation from this morning. My friend Antoine asked about an insect "plague" on a tree in his street so I came to check it out. It turns out to be a mass gathering of the Lime Seed Bug (Oxycarenus lavaterae).
This bug is originally from the Mediteranean and Africa, but has been spreading in the northern direction by means of imported trees/plants and the milder winters enabling them to survive. In 2016, our good friend Arp did a fantastic job of documenting the first population found in the Netherlands:
Since then, it has been seen more often, mostly in the South of the Netherlands. Current consensus is that they do little permanent damage to the trees, and basically serve as extra bird food.
"Oxycarenus lavaterae" is a species of "ground bug" belonging to the family Lygaeidae, subfamily Oxycareninae. It is found on and feeds upon plants in the Malvaceae family, such as Lavatera, Althea, Hibiscus, and Malva. It forms aggregates to winter over, typically on lime trees.
