Meadow plant bug
Males are fully winged and fly readily, but females usually have short wings and cannot fly, so they stay low in the grass.
| Where | Damp meadows and grassy places |
|---|---|
| Size | 8 to 10 mm long |
| When | May to July |
The meadow plant bug is an elongated, pale yellow to orange red bug that darkens with age, marked with black lines along the head, thorax and abdomen, with dark hairs covering its legs and antennae.
It feeds on the developing seed heads of meadow grasses, and heavy feeding can make the seed heads shrivel and turn pale. Males are long winged fliers, while females are usually short winged and stay close to the ground.
Traits
Habitat
Grassland
Colour
Yellow, Orange, Black
Active
Day
To people
Harmless; it does not bite or sting people.
Activity through the year
Often confused with
The rusty plant bug is slightly smaller, at 7 to 8.5 mm, favours drier grassland, and has evenly short hairs on the antennae rather than the longer projecting hairs of the meadow plant bug.
Questions
Is the Meadow plant bug dangerous to people?
Harmless; it does not bite or sting people.
When can you see the Meadow plant bug?
The Meadow plant bug can be seen from May to July, by day.
Plate retouched from a photo by janet graham, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons Licence
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True bugs›Plant bugs›Leptopterna
Last updated 2026-09-26. Every entry is checked against published sources.