2023-10-14 18:40:33
Gray, brown, green, bedbugs are particularly noticeable this fall in several departments in the north of France, writes L’Union. While their so-called “bedbug” counterparts have been getting a lot of attention, in recent weeks, European clouded bugs (Rhaphigaster nebulosa) have been moving closer to homes.
« It’s normal to have some at home. In the fall, these bugs look for warm and dry shelters to hope to survive the winter. », specifies Yohann Brouillard, naturalist and head of the Aube and Haute-Marne branches of the Conservatory of Natural Spaces of Champagne-Ardenne, to our colleagues at L’Est éclair.
On windows, in groups behind shutters, attached to the facades of houses… Bedbugs do not hesitate to enter inside homes. The peaks of observation are the months of October and April.
A harmless insect
Although the presence of this flying insect can be disturbing, it remains harmless to humans. But this species of bug is easily confused with the evil bug (Halyomorpha halys). An invasive insect recently imported from Asia. “I have seen three or four in my life, underlines Yohann Brouillard. And I still don’t know what he’s accused of. “It’s a little-known group of insects.”
The differences are very subtle. The European clouded bug is a “large gray elongated bug (it measures between 13.5 and 17 mm, Editor’s note). It has dark antennae, with three white rings, specifies the National Inventory of Natural Heritage (INPN) on the website of the National Museum of Natural History. It has a large ventral spine and small round nebulous spots on its wings.. These spots are absent in Asian bugs, their abdomen does not have a ventral tip, and their antennae have only two white rings.
Both can “sometimes cause damage by pricking fruits grown in orchards. Adults sometimes enter homes to hibernate. specifies the INPN.
And if you mistreat bedbugs, they will secrete a foul odor to defend themselves.
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