Scutiphora pedicellata (Metallic Shield Bug)

Metallic Shield Bug, Scutiphora pedicellata
Late October 2010
Hobart
on a garden Viburnum macrocephalum (Snowball plant)
Photos KE

Late January 2008
Buckland
Images by Elizabeth Daley, used with permission.

Mid November 2014
Kings Meadows
Images by John Douglas, used with permission.

Late October 2023
Kelcey Tier, Devonport
Photos KE

Mid February to Early March 2013
Lilydale
Margaret Elphinstone kindly sent us the following series showing feeding damage by Scutiphora pedicellata on developing blackberries. She observed that they feed at the developing fruits but do not directly damage them. Thus they appear to feed instead on the stem transporting nutrients into the fruit. The last photo shows three ‘mature’ pale fruits variously affected by the feeding, and a healthy mature fruit below for comparison.

Early March 2016
New Town Rivulet Reserve
Photos KE

Early April 2021
Lenah Valley
Photos KE

Late September 2022
Lenah Valley
Photos KE

Late December 2024
Lenah Valley
Photos KE

Nymphs
Late December 2017
Cataract Gorge, Launceston
Images by M Randall Webster, used with permission.

Nymph
Late January 2016
New Town Rivulet
Presumably stranded in the river.
Photos KE

Shed Exuvium
Late January 2019
Hobart/nipaluna
Images by Sarina Dutton, used with permission.

Adults and nymphs
Late January 2019
Hobart
The first photograph demonstrates what is presumed to be a teneral adult that has not yet melanised/darkened.
Images by Sarina Dutton, used with permission.