Taxonomy
Kingdom:	Phylum:	Class:	Order:	Family:	Genus:	Species:
Animalia	Arthropoda	Insecta	Hemiptera	Pentatomidae	Pentatoma	P. rufipes

The Forest Bug never showed up in our garden untill the fall of 2004. Suddenly two of them, only days apart. This fairly big bug is not difficult to identify. Just look at the impressive shoulders, the deep brown colour and the attractive an distinctive yellowish spot at the end of the scutellum. All legs are strikingly reddish and the last segments of its antennae are darker than the first three. The fact that we never saw it before, does not mean that this is a rare animal.



The Forest Bug rather lives high up in trees and bushes and is rarely seen. Yet this is a common species all over the British Isles. It sometimes sucks on leaves and fruit, but it clearly prefers to hunt for its own prey. The cold doesn't really stop this species and in winter is is one of the very few enemies of winter moths, such as the Mottled Umber Moth. The Forest Bug is common in forests, parks and larger gardens and also frequently spotted in shady avenues.