Twinspot

Timothy Grassbug (Stenotus binotatus): male upper left, female lower right

These days, the seed heads of the Common Cock's-foot (Dactylis glomerata) and Yorkshire Fog in our pocket meadow are crawling with Timothy Grassbugs (Stenotus binotatus), small true bugs that feed on grasses. Measuring in at 6 mm (about 1/4-inch), they're pretty easy to overlook. It makes me chuckle that these are considered "fairly large" for plant bugs. Males are yellowish, with extensive and variable dark patterning on their wings and pronotum, which is the part of their bodies just behind their heads. Females are greener, with two small dots on their pronotum and dark lines on their wings. Both sexes get darker and more strongly marked as they age. The species is native to much of the Palearctic (Europe and northern Asia), but has been widely introduced (accidentally) to temperate areas around the world. Here in the UK, it's a common and widespread species in dry grasslands across much of England and Wales, with many fewer records from Scotland. At all ages, it feeds on the flowering heads of grasses, which means it can be a serious agricultural pest on cereal crops, particularly as it produces an enzyme as it feeds which degrades the gluten in the seeds. Adults are typically on the wing between June and September, so they'll presumably be chowing down on the meadow grasses for another few months. Better here than the nearby barley field!