Occurs throughout Aotearoa / New Zealand in many habitats
Shield bug
English name: shield bug
Scientific name: Oncacontias vittatus (Fabricius)
Order: Hemiptera;
Family: Acanthosomatidae
- was one of the first insects from Aotearoa / New Zealand to be described by a European scientist (by the Swedish entomologist Fabricius in 1781), from collections made during Captain Cook's visits;
- occurs throughout Aotearoa / New Zealand in many habitats;
- produces one generation each year;
- nymphs seem to prefer grasses, especially toetoe;
- adults apparently feed on a wide range of endemic plants;
- is one of very few species of plant bug in Aotearoa / New Zealand known to feed on "hard-leaved" trees such as rimu.