Hoplomachus thunbergii

Appearance

The bugs are 3.8 to 4.5 millimeters long. [1] They have a dark mark on the head and pronotum and orange-brown hemielytre with pale edges and are dark hairy on the upper body. They are unmistakable.

Habitat

The species is Palaearctic widespread and lacks in Europe only in the far north and the southern Mediterranean(?). In Germany and Austria, it is not rare and probably widespread, but there are still missing in some places evidence. Settled are sunny, dry, sandy and calcareous habitats with low vegetation.

Food

The bugs feed on small hawkweed (Hieracium pilosella), more rarely also on other asperaceae such as scabrous ragweed (Senecio erucifolius), meadowweed marguerite (Chrysanthemum leucanthemum) and hippocrepis. The adult bugs prefer to suck on the female reproductive organs and the pollen of the plants, which makes them important for their pollination. The Imagines can be observed from early June to Andang August. The females pierce their eggs almost entirely from the end of June to July in the cavity of the flower stem of the host plants.