Brachynotocoris puncticornis

This species was new to Britain in 2006 but there have now been a few records. The two below are the first records for Norfolk. I haven't yet managed to ascertain if its arrival in the UK is throught to be natural or human-assisted.

This was found in my garden moth trap. When I potted it up I imagined it would be one of the green Orthotylus species that I would put away to examine with all the others I've caught in recent years when I finally catch up with sorting out my bug specimens and records. But reviewing the photos I realised it was something more interesting and set about identifying it immediately. There are those who are opposed to identification apps using AI but in this case ObsIdentify saved me time without, I think, sacrificing rigour or learning. Without it I would have started off scouring through the species covered at the British Bugs website (which doesn't yet feature it so this would have drawn a blank) and then tried to key it out using Nau. I don't find the early stages of that key easy to follow so that may well have taken a great deal of time too. ObsIdentify was immediately 100% sure of the correct ID, and a great deal less time was needed to confirm it was correct and understand why (using the Nau key and working backwards as well as checking a few other references). The long bristle near the front corner of the pronotum was more obvious on the left side than the right (the latter was not pointing forwards).

Brachynotocoris puncticornis showing rostrum and underside of antennal bases, pronotum and head from above and bristle at corner of pronotum, North Elmham (Norfolk, UK), 4th Septemmber 2024

The following night I caught another, so they are clearly established locally (the first one was still in a pot so no possibility that it was the same one recaptured).

Brachynotocoris puncticornis showing close-up of pronotum (including long bristles near fore corners amd relative width compared to elytra base), North Elmham (Norfolk, UK), 5th Septemmber 2024