Golden Egg Bug

Phyllomorpha laciniata belongs to Coreidae, a family of true bugs within Hemiptera. Villers described the species in 1789. [3]

The adult is slender and approximately one centimetre long, with numerous spine-bearing expansions along its outline. [1]

This Mediterranean species occurs in the Pyrenees, where adults have been photographed in their natural habitat among the pale bracts of paronychia. [1]

Young bugs hatch on the bodies of egg-carrying adults and subsequently move onto their host plant. The egg surface has a fine hexagonal sculpture visible under magnification. [1]

Paronychia argentea, a member of Caryophyllaceae, is a documented developmental host. [1]

Females place eggs on males, other females and plants. Eggs attached to an adult remain secured by an adhesive secretion. [1][2]

A molecular paternity study found that the last male to mate with a previously mated female fathered an average of 43% of the eggs laid during the following five days. That proportion did not change significantly over the measured period, supporting sperm mixing rather than complete replacement by the last male. [2]

Egg carriage has opposing reproductive consequences. Eggs laid on plants experience high mortality, while carrying eggs increases an adult’s vulnerability to predators. The study’s authors interpreted intermediate paternity and substantial offspring-survival benefits as conditions that can sustain male care. [2]

The English name refers to the golden eggs carried on adults. [1]