Brassica shieldbug
Adults spend the winter hidden in leaf litter at woodland edges, then emerge in spring to breed on the cabbage-family plants they feed on.
| Where | Farmland, gardens, waysides |
|---|---|
| Size | 5 to 7 mm long |
| When | April to September |
A small, shiny shieldbug with a dark metallic blue-green to black ground colour broken by bold cream, yellow, orange or red spots and edges, including a mark on the scutellum and one on each wing case.
Females lay batches of around a dozen eggs at a time on leaves and flowering stems, and the nymphs moult five times before becoming adults.
Traits
Habitat
Farmland
Colour
Black, White, Red
Active
Day
To people
A minor pest of cabbage-family crops, feeding mainly on flowers and seed pods.
Activity through the year
Often confused with
Slightly larger at 7 to 8 mm, with a grey or bright red ground colour and a different arrangement of black markings.
Questions
Is the Brassica shieldbug dangerous to people?
A minor pest of cabbage-family crops, feeding mainly on flowers and seed pods.
When can you see the Brassica shieldbug?
The Brassica shieldbug can be seen from April to September, by day.
Plate retouched from a photo by Rudolphous, CC BY‑SA 4.0, 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›Eurydema
Last updated 2026-09-26. Every entry is checked against published sources.