The Dock Leaf Bug (Coreus marginatus) is a medium-sized insect in the Coreide family of squash bugs and leaf-footed bugs. It is also known as the Brown Squash Bug.
The Dock Leaf Bug is light mottled brown with a broad oval abdomen. Its lower abdomen has a lighter amber-brown, oval-shaped marking. At the front of its head, it has two thorns, called antenniferous tubercles, between its dark-tipped, four-segmented antennae. Other squash bugs don’t have these thorns.
It grows to 1-2 centimetres (less than one inch) in length. The male is smaller than the female, but he has longer antennae than the female.
It is common across Europe, Asia, and northern Africa. It prefers dense vegetation.
It is herbivorous; it eats plants and vegetation. It sucks sap (juice) from leaves.
The Dock Leaf Bug defends itself by spreading a smelly brown liquid, from its scent glands located in its thorax, in its environment.
Its life cycle is egg, nymph, adult. The female lays eggs on leaves, which hatch after 21-28 days. The eggs hatch into nymphs, which feed on leaves as they mature into adults.
Location: Paris, France
Photographer: Martina Nicolls
Martina Nicolls: SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM