G. italicum
         G. semipunctatum
         N. viridula
         C. mediterraneus
         Unidentified
         P. apterus

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Unless otherwise noted, all pictures on this site were taken in Pelion, Greece, shown on the map below.

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View images of the Common Toad, an ugly, bulky, but really sweet creature with an interesting... nightlife.

  Veggie of the Month

Learn about the Salsify, a beautiful plant, with edible and medicinal properties, that is currently blooming in Pelion.

  Cool Destination

Visit Mourtias, one of Pelion's most picturesque beaches on the Aegean coast.

  Exciting Site

Tour the Volos Archaeological Museum, a pretty century-old building, whose exhibits span a historical period of over 10 millennia!

  Month's Wallpaper

Download a fantastic picture of a rickety jetty in Lefokastron, Pelion, taken by Huw Jones.

Loading image. Please wait G. semipunctatum on Sea Holly :: 2001/07/25 :: Potistika :: © A.Papadopoulos G. semipunctatum on Sea Holly :: 2001/07/25 :: Potistika :: © A.Papadopoulos No image! No image! No image!

Half-spotted Stink Bug

Graphosoma semipunctatum

Unfortunately, I was unable to find very much information about this species, even though I went over all my references and did an extensive search on the Internet.

Apparently, judging by its general appearance, it is very closely related to the Italian Stink Bug, Graphosoma italicum, the main difference being that the stripes on the  pronotum are broken into dots and the legs are orange instead of black. Of course, another obvious difference is that the Half-spotted Stink Bug is orange, wehereas the Italian Stink Bug is reddish.

According to one of my field guides, it is a very widespread species in southern Europe, but I have only noticed it once.

The specimen above, which was approximately 15 mm (3/5 in) in length, was feeding on a Sea Holly (Eryngium maritimum), growing on the beach at Potistika.

By the way, the common name, Half-spotted Stink Bug, is my loose interpretation of the species name, semipunctatum, so, if I were you, I'd take it with a grain of salt.

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Fact Sheet

Food
Various plant materials and products.

Active
Not known with certainty. The specimen shown here was photographed in late July.

Habitat
Seen on a Sea Holly (Eryngium maritimum), growing on a coastal sand-dune.

Distribution
Southern Europe, probaly elsewhere.


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Taxonomy


Superkingdom: Eukaryota; Kingdom: Metazoa; Phylum: Arthropoda; Superclass: Hexapoda; Superclass: Hexapoda; Class: Insecta; Subclass: Neoptera; Order: Hemiptera; Suborder: Heteroptera; Family: Pentatomidae; Genus: Graphosoma; Species: semipunctatum

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