Psallus helenae

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Description

A small bug associated with Turkey Oak. Males have yellow-orange head, yellow-orange pronotum often with brown spots; brown-orange corium darkening to brown towards cuneus, and orange cuneus with pale base.

Similar Species

Other Psallus.

Identification difficulty

Recording advice

Dissection of male genitalia needed, plus photo of specimen. You must note the tree species from which it was collected

Habitat

Turkey Oak

UK Status

A recent coloniser of the UK (2014)

VC55 Status

rare - but possibly under-recorded. Not present on all Turkey Oaks sampled in June 2025

Further Information

for a full description, see Wyniger, D. (2004) Taxonomy and phylogeny of the Central European bug genus Psallus (Hemiptera, Miridae) and faunistics of the terrestrial Heteroptera of Basel and surroundings (Hemiptera) https://edoc.unibas.ch/entities/publication/2b6dd4a4-0c76-4ddb-be08-35b86004ef09

See Het News Spring 2015 https://www.britishbugs.org.uk/HetNews/HetNews22_Spring2015.pdf