Doesn’t sound like a typical activity, does it? Yesterday I actually tried. What drove me to do that? The sun was shining, I wanted to use the macro lens and I think I even dreamed of a hoverfly – very motivating. Whatever – armed with an umbrella, I visited the airfield in Freiburg. I shook a few branches with little success. From a blackberry I shook a nursery web spider (Pisaura mirabilis).
When I shook the branch of a mountain pine (Pinus mugo mugo), an unknown bug from the Pentatomidae group fell into the umbrella. After some photos I put it back into the tree. What a surprise when I tried to identify it at home: It seemed to be Holcogaster fibulatus. In Germany, this species has been detected only once before (in Nordrhein-Westfalen; Hamers, 2018).
Typically, it occurs further south but it is said to be nowhere common (Sauer, 1996). Due to the global warming, more and more species from the Mediterranean are reaching Germany. And Freiburg is located close to the Belfort Gap, through which various southern species have reached Germany in recent years. Nevertheless, it remains a surprise and it is a pleasant result for an hour of nature observation on the outskirts of the city.
Literature:
- Hamers, B. (2018): Nachweis von Holcogaster fibulata (GERMAR, 1831) in Nordrhein-Westfalen. Heteropteron 51:14-15.
- Sauer, F. (1996) Wanzen und Zikaden, Fauna-Verlag, Karlsfeld
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