Sloe bug
It feeds on ripening sloes and other fruit by piercing them with needle-like mouthparts, then turns a duller brown colour for winter.
| Where | Hedgerows, woodland edges, meadows and gardens |
|---|---|
| Size | 11 to 12 mm long |
| When | April to October |
A purple-brown and greenish shieldbug covered in fine hairs, with antennae and the edges of the abdomen banded black and white.
It overwinters as an adult hidden in leaf litter and emerges in spring to feed and breed on hedgerow shrubs such as blackthorn.
Traits
Habitat
Garden
Colour
Brown, Green
Active
Day
To people
Harmless; feeds on plants, not people
Activity through the year
Often confused with
Carpocoris shieldbugs have a smooth, shiny body, while the sloe bug is covered all over in fine hairs, easiest to see on the pronotum and legs.
Questions
Is the Sloe bug dangerous to people?
Harmless; feeds on plants, not people.
When can you see the Sloe bug?
The Sloe bug can be seen from April to October, by day.
Plate retouched from a photo by Harald Süpfle, CC BY‑SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons Licence
The plate on this page is shared under the same licence as its source, CC BY-SA.
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True bugs›Shield bugs›Dolycoris
Last updated 2026-09-26. Every entry is checked against published sources.