Red-spotted plant bug
This shiny bug's colour ranges from almost entirely orange-red to nearly black, yet one small wingtip patch called the cuneus always stays red.
| Where | Nettle patches, hedgerows, shrubs |
|---|---|
| Size | 6 to 8 mm long |
| When | June to August |
This small, glossy bug is broad-bodied for a mirid and varies a great deal in colour, from pale orange or red through to almost black, though the head and the wingtip patch called the cuneus stay reddish in every form.
It is a predatory bug rather than a plant-feeder, hunting aphids and other small insects on nettles and various shrubs, with one generation maturing each summer from eggs that spend the winter unhatched.
Traits
Habitat
Garden
Colour
Red, Orange, Black
Active
Day
To people
Harmless to people; preys on aphids and other small insects
Activity through the year
Often confused with
Deraeocoris flavilinea, a similarly sized mirid, has pale margins along the sides of its scutellum, a marking the red-spotted plant bug lacks.
Questions
Is the Red-spotted plant bug dangerous to people?
Harmless to people; preys on aphids and other small insects.
When can you see the Red-spotted plant bug?
The Red-spotted plant bug can be seen from June to August, by day.
Plate retouched from a photo by gailhampshire from Cradley, Malvern, U.K, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons Licence
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True bugs›Plant bugs›Deraeocoris
Last updated 2026-09-26. Every entry is checked against published sources.