Bishop

Bishop's Mitre (Aelia acuminata)

Ever since I first saw it illustrated in a field guide, I've always wanted to see the shield bug known as the Bishop's Mitre (Aelia acuminata). It's just such a crazy name! This is a distinctive bug; with its striped back and pointy nose, the adult can't easily be confused with anything else. As its camouflage suggests, it's a grass specialist, found in dry meadows and cereal fields; our pocket meadow apparently fits the bill. Like many shield bugs, it's a herbivore, sucking juices from a variety of grasses. In large numbers, it can cause significant damage in agricultural fields. Common and widespread across southern England and Wales, it's found as far north as Yorkshire. Elsewhere, it's regular across Europe and North Africa, and through much of northern Asia. Adults are present year-round, but are most easily seen from May to September. They mate in spring and early summer. Females lay their eggs in the grass, and larvae feed on ripening grass seed heads for the summer. New adults appear by late summer, and these overwinter in thickets or leaf litter, emerging to mate the following spring.