I was walking through the botanical gardens on the university campus where I study when I felt something land on my face.
I took it off my face and I instantly knew it wasn't a shieldbug species I had seen before. The lovely insect that landed on my face was the hairy shieldbug Dolycoris baccarum, previously known as the sloe shieldbug. This species is very common although I had never seen it before so it was a nice start to my walk. The walk got better as I found some toothwort (Lathraea squamaria) in a shady area of the gardens, another tick for me....
