Bug On The Wrong Thorn Bush

I thought of GracieG when I spotted this hawthorn shieldbug on a blackthorn bush today. The flowers are just starting to come out. Interesting that the stigmas protrude before the petals part to reveal the stamens.

It's my first hawthorn shieldbug of the season. They're one of the biggest and, in my view, most handsome of the shieldbugs. I was lucky to spot it as it hasn't been bug weather. Much too cold, dull and windy.