Mystery Bug Bugs Experts

A mystery insect is bugging experts at the Natural History Museum. The unidentified creature has been discovered living in plane trees in the museum's own gardens. It is almond-shaped, red and black and about the size of a grain of rice. While the bug is harmless, experts say it has the potential to spread throughout Britain.

MSN - Mystery Bug Bugs Experts

Now the article if you could call it that is very short and with no pictures, but it strikes me as odd that an undiscovered species of bug could live uninterupted in a Museum Garden lol.

Here's a better linky link with a picture.

Ahh good stuff, i just found my link on 'Msn Today' when i signed into Messenger lol. Strange how something could live under the 'experts' noses' lol.

hehe that article made me laugh.

we are searching for life outside our planet but we still don't know all the species that inhabit this planet.

really ironic

We have those in PA, so what's so new about them?

reply to post by Gnihton


Well, what do you suggest they are?

Edit: I'd put my money on the Pentatomidae Family.

[edit on 17-7-2008 by Gemwolf]

i JUST killed one of those, nova scotia canada. there REALY slow, i missed like 3 times before i actualy hit it and it didnt even flinch while slowly walking forward.

Those are definitely looking familiar. I used to spend a lot of time studying bugs during college and high school, and I'd find loads of insects, like the one in the picture, around my house. Unfortunately it's been years since I spent much time with that hobby, so the name of them escapes me at the moment, but I'll see if I can figure it out.

Okay, I think I found it. I am pretty sure the ones I used to find lots of were the Box Elder Beetle and the Milkweed Bug (www.unexco.com...)

They look very similar to the mystery bug. There must be something about it that these experts are seeing that indicates that it could be a new species.

Have seen those before in Arizona usually they are called squished or dead. No idea the real name of them but not sure why the little things have never been seen before. Maybe I am looking at the pic wrong or something.

Eh whats with those, its just a halfwing or whatever they are called..

Here is a simmilar one from sweden

Probably a Lygus pratensis..



[edit on 22-7-2008 by SilverSurfer]