''Graphosoma italicum'' is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

shield bug Pentatomidae is a family of insects belonging to the order Hemiptera, generally called shield bugs or stink bugs. Pentatomidae is the largest family in the superfamily Pentatomoidea, and contains around 900 genera and over 4700 species.Robert ...

in the family

Pentatomidae Pentatomidae is a family of insects belonging to the order Hemiptera, generally called shield bugs or stink bugs. Pentatomidae is the largest family in the superfamily Pentatomoidea, and contains around 900 genera and over 4700 species.Robert G ...

. It is also known as the striped bug (or Italian striped bug) and

minstrel A minstrel was an entertainer, initially in medieval Europe. The term originally described any type of entertainer such as a musician, juggler, acrobat, singer or fool; later, from the sixteenth century, it came to mean a specialist enter ...

bug.

Description

''G. italicum'' can reach a length of . The body is almost round, with a large shield. The basic color of the upperside of the body is red, with wide black longitudinal stripes. The

pronotum The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the pronotum (dorsal), the prosternum (ventral), and the propleuron (lateral) on e ...

has six black bands. The antennae are black. Also the sides of the abdominal segments (connexivum) are red with many small black spots. The legs are mostly black, which distinguishes it from its relative, '' G. lineatum''.

Taxonomy

''Graphosoma italicum'' had been regarded as either a subspecies, or a synonym, of ''G. lineatum'' for over 100 years, so nearly all of the existing literature prior to 2007 referred to this species under the name ''lineatum''. The validity of ''G. italicum'' was reestablished via DNA analysis, which demonstrated that the sister species to ''G. italicum'' is '' G. rubrolineatum'', while ''G. lineatum'' is more closely related to '' G. semipunctatum''.R. Lupoli & F. Dusoulier (2006) ''Les Punaises Pentatomoidea de France.'' Ancyrosoma R. Lupoli
''Graphosoma lineatum'' (L., 1758) and ''G. italicum'' (O.F. Müller, 1766), two valid and distinct species, probably derived from the Zanclean mediterranean transgression (Hemiptera Pentatomidae)
L'Entomologiste T73 n°1 (2017) pp. 19-33.

Subspecies

* ''G. i. italicum'' (Müller, 1766) - nominate subspecies * ''G. i. sardiniensis'' Lupoli, 2017 - with reddish legs, similar to ''G. lineatum'', and

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

Similar species

* ''Graphosoma lineatum'' (Linnaeus, 1758) - The legs are orange. The distribution is restricted to

Northern Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

and

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

. * ''Graphosoma semipunctatum'' (Fabricius, 1775) - The legs are orange, the red and black bands are interrupted on the pronotum, where they form black points. The distribution is restricted to the Mediterranean region. * '' Graphosoma melanoxanthum'' Horvath, 1903 - Dark connexivi with small red points, it is distributed in South

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Distribution

''G. italicum'' is distributed across the

Western Palearctic The Western Palaearctic or Western Palearctic is part of the Palaearctic realm, one of the eight biogeographic realms dividing the Earth's surface. Because of its size, the Palaearctic is often divided for convenience into two, with Europe, North ...

and occurs in the entire

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

area, with the northern limit of distribution fluctuating strongly. In recent decades, the northern border in western and central

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

has expanded strongly to the north, so that the species now occurs as far as the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

and

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

(

Jutland Jutland (; , ''Jyske Halvø'' or ''Cimbriske Halvø''; , ''Kimbrische Halbinsel'' or ''Jütische Halbinsel'') is a peninsula of Northern Europe that forms the continental portion of Denmark and part of northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). It ...

and southern

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

). In

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, the type occurs everywhere with exception of the northwest and is not rare regionally. In

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, it is widespread, but only locally frequent. The insects populate open to half-shady areas in dry to more humid habitats. The subspecies ''G. i. sardiniensis'' occurs only in Sardinia.

Biology

''G. italicum'' is an insect of warm and sunny areas. It prefers warm slopes and meadows located on south-facing slopes. The orange and black warning colours (

aposematism Aposematism is the Advertising in biology, advertising by an animal, whether terrestrial or marine, to potential predation, predators that it is not worth attacking or eating. This unprofitability may consist of any defenses which make the pr ...

) indicate that the insects are foul-tasting, protecting them from predators. The nymphs do not have the orange-black stripe pattern, instead they are mostly brownish. These shield bugs are frequently found on the umbels of

Apiaceae Apiaceae () or Umbelliferae is a family of mostly aromatic flowering plants named after the type genus ''Apium,'' and commonly known as the celery, carrot, or parsley family, or simply as umbellifers. It is the 16th-largest family of flowering p ...

(''

Daucus ''Daucus'' is a worldwide genus of herbaceous plants of the celery family Apiaceae of which the best-known species is the cultivated carrot. ''Daucus'' has about 45 species. The oldest carrot fossil is 1.3 Ma, and was found on the island of Made ...

'', '' Heracleum'', ''

Anthriscus ''Anthriscus'' (chervils) is a common plant genus of the family Apiaceae, growing in Europe and temperate parts of Asia. It comprises 15 species. The genus grows in meadows and verges on slightly wet porous soils. One species, '' Anthriscus cere ...

'', ''

Foeniculum ''Foeniculum '' is a genus of flowering plants in the carrot family. It includes the commonly cultivated fennel, ''Foeniculum vulgare.'' ;Species *'' Foeniculum scoparium'' Quézel - North Africa *'' Foeniculum subinodorum'' Maire, Weiller & ...

'', etc.), plants which themselves are chemically-protected. Graphosoma italicum, nymph.jpg, Nymph Italian striped bug (Graphosoma lineatum italicum) mating.jpg, mating (dorsal view) Graphosoma italicum August 2007-3.jpg, mating (ventral view) Graphosoma lineatum.ogv, thumbtime=25

References

External links

Biolib
{{Taxonbar, from=Q56085742 Podopinae Aposematic species Articles containing video clips Insects described in 1766 Hemiptera of Europe Taxa named by Otto Friedrich Müller