Geotomus punctulatus

Geotomus punctulatus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hemiptera
Family:	Cydnidae
Genus:	Geotomus
Species:	G. punctulatus
Binomial name
	Geotomus punctulatus; (A. Costa, 1847)
Synonyms
	Cydnus punctulatus A. Costa, 1847[1];

Geotomus punctulatus, also known as the Cornish shieldbug, is a species of burrowing bug in the family Cydnidae, found in Europe.

Description

A small black shieldbug, 3.5 mm to 4.5 mm in length, with sparse, long hairs around the head, forewings and pronotum. The corium and rear margin of the pronotum often has reddish markings.[2] It feeds on lady's bedstraw (Galium verum) in sparsely vegetated areas of loose sand in sand dunes.[3]

Distribution and status

The species is widely distributed in the southern Palaearctic from Great Britain to Japan.[4] In Great Britain it has been found in the towans at Whitesand Bay, near Sennen Cove, Cornwall for over one hundred years and two specimens were taken from Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan in the 19th-century.[3] The population is not known but probably numbers in the hundreds rather than thousands. In 1962 it was present ″in considerable numbers″ and on 31 May 1882 it was numerous.[4] This location is above a popular beach so is under threat from excessive public pressure.[3]

References

"Geotomus punctulatus (A. Costa, 1847)". Fauna Europaea. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
"Geotomus punctulatus Cornish Shieldbug". British Bugs. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
Alexander, K N A (2009). Hemiptera. In CISFBR, Red Data Book for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (2nd ed.). Praze-an-Beeble: Croceago Press. p. 217. ISBN 978 1 901685 01 5. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
Moris, M G (1987). Shirt, D B (ed.). Hemiptera: Heteroptera. In British Red Data Books: 2. Insects. Peterborough: Nature Conservancy Council. p. 56. ISBN 0 86139 380 5.

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[fe-1] "Geotomus punctulatus (A. Costa, 1847)". Fauna Europaea. Retrieved 24 April 2020.

[bb-2] "Geotomus punctulatus Cornish Shieldbug". British Bugs. Retrieved 24 April 2020.

[rdb-3] Alexander, K N A (2009). Hemiptera. In CISFBR, Red Data Book for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (2nd ed.). Praze-an-Beeble: Croceago Press. p. 217. ISBN 978 1 901685 01 5. Retrieved 24 April 2020.

[ncc-4] Moris, M G (1987). Shirt, D B (ed.). Hemiptera: Heteroptera. In British Red Data Books: 2. Insects. Peterborough: Nature Conservancy Council. p. 56. ISBN 0 86139 380 5.