Cavelerius saccharivorus | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Hemiptera |
Suborder: | Heteroptera |
Family: | Blissidae |
Genus: | Cavelerius |
Species: | C. saccharivorus |
Binomial name | |
Cavelerius saccharivorus (Okajima, 1922) [1] | |
Synonyms | |
Blissus saccharivorus [2] Contents |
Cavelerius saccharivorus, also known as the oriental chinch bug, is a small Asian true bug in the order Hemiptera and family Blissidae. [3] It feeds by sucking the sap out of the stems of grasses and grass-like plants, including rice plants and sugarcane. Cavelerius saccharivorus is notorious for the damage it wrought to sugarcane plantations in Japan, China, and Taiwan in the early 20th century, from which it derives its Latin name saccharivorus, meaning "sugar-eater". Even today, the insect is still listed as one of the 100 most economically-devastating invasive species to Japan by the Ecological Society of Japan.
The English name "oriental chinch bug" derives from the insect's visual similarity to the "true chinch bug" ( Blissus leucopterus ) found in North America, which is likewise a major agricultural pest and also a member of family Blissidae . The name "chinch bug" originally derives from the Spanish chinche, which refers to the bed bug and is in turn derived from the Latin cimex . Chinch bugs are not related to the bed bug, but took this name on account of producing a similar smell to that of bed bugs when crushed. [4]
Adult examples of C. saccharivorus measure 7-8 millimeters long. The body color is glossy black, and the legs and the first antenna segments are yellowish brown. There is a black spot in the center of each wing. [5]
C. saccharivorus is believed to have originated in Taiwan. [2] The insect suddenly appeared simultaneously in several parts of Japan, including Okinawa, Kagoshima prefecture, Miyazaki prefecture, and Tanegashima in the 1910s, likely due to the rapid growth of the sugar industry and the circulation of different cultivars of sugarcane. [2] The species proved impossible to eradicate, despite mass burnings of infested sugarcane plantations at the behest of the Japanese government. In recent decades, C. saccharivorus has been found on sugarcane plants in Jiangxi province in China, about 300 miles inland from the Taiwan Strait. [2]
An important biological agent for controlling populations of the C. saccharivorus is the parasitic wasp Eumicrosoma blissae , which lays a single egg inside an egg laid by C. saccharivorus. [6] Field studies where the wasp is present have found an over 50% parasitism rate. [6] Other means of control include organic and inorganic pesticides, with mixed results. [7]
The insect family Nabidae contains the damsel bugs. There are over 500 species in 20 genera. They are soft-bodied, elongate, winged terrestrial predators. Many damsel bugs catch and hold prey with their forelegs, similar to mantids. They are considered helpful species in agriculture because of their predation on many types of crop pests.
Blissus leucopterus, also known as the true chinch bug, is a small North American insect in the order Hemiptera and family Blissidae. It is the most commonly encountered species of the genus Blissus, which are all known as chinch bugs. A closely related species is B. insularis, the southern chinch bug.
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Dolycoris baccarum, the sloe bug or hairy shieldbug, is a species of shield bug in the family Pentatomidae.
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Leptoglossus zonatus is a species of leaf-footed bug, a type of true bugs. It is found throughout much of South America, Central America, Mexico, and the southwestern United States. The bug is two centimeters in length, gray in color, with a zigzagging whitish band across its back and two distinctive yellowish spots on its anterior pronotum, the identifying characteristic for the species.
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Gargaphia solani is a subsocial species of lace bug commonly known as the eggplant lace bug. The species was described by Heidemann in 1914 after it aroused attention a year earlier in the United States as an eggplant pest around Norfolk, Virginia. Fink found that the species became an agricultural pest when eggplant is planted on a large scale.
Spilostethus pandurus is a species of "seed bugs" belonging to the family Lygaeidae, subfamily Lygaeinae.
Lygocoris rugicollis is a widespread, common species of bug in the Miridae family. It feeds on a large variety of bushes and small trees, but especially willows and slightly less often alders. It can be found throughout Europe, including the UK, and Spain, in North Africa, as far east as Central Asia, in Alaska and Canada, including the Maritimes.
Oxycarenus is a genus of ground bugs belonging to the family Lygaeidae, subfamily Oxycareninae. There are approximately fifty-five described species of Oxycarenus, and a number are documented as important crop pests.
The Blissidae are a family in the Hemiptera, comprising nearly 50 genera and 400 species. The group has often been treated as a subfamily of the Lygaeidae but was resurrected as a full family by Thomas Henry (1997).
Acompocoris alpinus is a true bug in the family Anthocoridae. The species is found in Europe. It occurs on conifers, where it is a predator of aphids. In France at an altitude of 1,200 – 2,000 m. A. alpinus Reuter, is found on Abies and Picea
Dysdercus cingulatus is a species of true bug in the family Pyrrhocoridae, commonly known as the red cotton stainer. It is a serious pest of cotton crops, the adults and older nymphs feeding on the emerging bolls and the cotton seeds as they mature, transmitting cotton-staining fungi as they do so.
Euthyrhynchus floridanus, the Florida predatory stink bug, is a species of carnivorous shield bug in the family Pentatomidae, the only species in the genus Euthyrhynchus. It is native to the hottest parts of the southeastern United States and is considered beneficial because its diet includes many species of pest insects.
Caenocoris nerii, common name oleander seedbug, is a species of ground bugs in the insect family Lygaeidae.
Spilostethus rivularis, the rivulet milkweed bug, is a species of bug belonging to the family Lygaeidae sensu stricto, and subfamily Lygaeinae. It is widely distributed in Africa, where it is found commonly in grassland, savannah grassland or croplands.
Oxycarenus laetus, commonly known as the dusky cotton bug, is a species of plant bug belonging to the family Lygaeidae. It is sometimes known as the Egyptian cotton stainer, and is found in southern Asia where it is a pest of cotton, okra and other crops.
Stephanitis pyri, the pear lace bug, is a species of lace bug in the family Tingidae. It is found in Northern Africa, Southern and Central Europe, and Asia. The species is considered a pest for apple and pear trees, and is said to be polyphagous. S.pyri was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1775.