| Proxys punctulatus | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hemiptera |
| Suborder: | Heteroptera |
| Family: | Pentatomidae |
| Tribe: | Carpocorini |
| Genus: | Proxys |
| Species: | P. punctulatus |
| Binomial name | |
| Proxys punctulatus (Palisot, 1818) | |
Proxys punctulatus, the black stink bug, is a species of stink bug in the family Pentatomidae. It is found in the Caribbean Sea, Central America, and North America. [1] [2] [3]
The adult of P. punctulatus is 11-13 mm long and has a mostly black body with a yellow spot at the apex of the scutellum. There are six legs which are black and cream in colour. The head as well as the humeral angles of the pronotum are pointed. [4]
The life cycle of this species has been studied in Union County, Illinois. Adults overwinter in leaf litter near their host plants. They become active in June and reproduce. Eggs are usually laid singly. These eggs hatch into nymphs which go through five instars. A laboratory experiment, rearing P. punctulatus on Tradescantia subaspera under constant temperature and light, found that on average egg incubation takes 9.04 days while the five nymphal instars take 5.06, 7.15, 7.56, 9.32, and 15.93 days. [5]
Proxys punctulatus is omnivorous, feeding on both plant juices and on insect larvae. It has been found on blackberry, [6] spiderwort, [7] cotton, soybean and citrus plants. [4] Feeding results in disfigured leaves and discolored areas on stems, but this damage is usually insignificant since the bugs never reach high populations. [4]
The distinctive colouration of P. punctulatus may signal its unpalatability to predators such as birds (aposematism). Some predatory stink bugs share its black colouration and are capable of stabbing with their strong proboscis to deter predators. [4]
Like many other stink bug species, P. punctulatus is attracted to traps baited with Euschistus pheromones. [8]
The Pentatomoidea are a superfamily of insects in the Heteroptera suborder of the Hemiptera order. As Hemiptera, they share a common arrangement of sucking mouthparts. The roughly 7000 species under Pentatomoidea are divided into 21 families. Among these are the stink bugs and shield bugs, jewel bugs, giant shield bugs, and burrower bugs.
Scutelleridae is a family of true bugs. They are commonly known as jewel bugs or metallic shield bugs due to their often brilliant coloration. They are also known as shield-backed bugs due to the enlargement of the thoracic scutellum into a continuous shield over the abdomen and wings. This latter characteristic distinguishes them from most other families within Heteroptera, and may lead to misidentification as a beetle rather than a bug. These insects feed on plant juices from a variety of different species, including some commercial crops. Closely related to stink bugs, they may also produce an offensive odour when disturbed. There are around 450 species worldwide.
The green shield bug is a European shield bug species in the family Pentatomidae. The name might equally apply to several other species in the tribe Nezarini, or if referred-to as a "green stink bug", it might more appropriately belong to the larger North American bug, Acrosternum hilare. The adult green shield bug ranges in the colour of their backs from bright green to bronze, without any substantial markings. Green shield bugs are a very common shield bug throughout Europe, including Great Britain & Ireland, and are found in a large variety of habitats, including gardens. They have been found as far north as 63° N latitude.
The green stink bug or green soldier bug is a stink bug of the family Pentatomidae.
The brown marmorated stink bug is an insect in the family Pentatomidae, native to China, Japan, Korea and other Asian regions. In September 1998 it was collected in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where it is believed to have been accidentally introduced. The nymphs and adults of the brown marmorated stink bug feed on over 100 species of plants, including many agricultural crops, and by 2010–11 had become a season-long pest in orchards in the Eastern United States. In 2010, in the Mid-Atlantic United States, $37 million in apple crops were lost, and some stone fruit growers lost more than 90% of their crops. Since the 2010's the bug has spread to Georgia and Turkey and caused extensive damage to hazelnut production. It is now established in many parts of North America, and has recently become established in Europe and South America.
The harlequin cabbage bug, also known as calico bug, fire bug or harlequin bug, is a black stinkbug of the family Pentatomidae, brilliantly marked with red, orange, yellow and white markings. It is a major pest of cabbage and related crops in the Brassicaceae, as well as the ornamental flower cleome throughout tropical and North America, especially the warmer parts of the United States. Nymphs are active during the summer and in the tropics the bug can achieve three to six generations a year. In the northern range there is only one generation annually and the insects overwinter as adults in crop residues or field edges. Organic control involves hand-picking the insects off the plants and being especially careful to remove and destroy all the eggs, which are black-and-white striped, laid in clutches of twelve.
Rhaphigaster nebulosa, common name mottled shieldbug, is a species of stink bugs in the family Pentatomidae. It is the only species of the genus Rhaphigaster.
Picromerus bidens, the spiny shieldbug or spiked shieldbug, is a carnivorous species of shield bug in the family Pentatomidae.
Nezara viridula, commonly known as the southern green stink bug (USA), southern green shield bug (UK) or green vegetable bug, is a plant-feeding stink bug. Believed to have originated in Ethiopia, it can now be found around the world. Because of its preference for certain species of legumes, such as beans and soybeans, it is an economically important pest on such crops.
Trichopoda pennipes is a species of feather-legged fly in the dipteran family Tachinidae.
Tessaratomidae is a family of true bugs. It contains about 240 species of large bugs divided into 3 subfamilies and 56 genera.
Planococcus citri, commonly known as the citrus mealybug, is a species of mealybugs native to Asia. It has been introduced to the rest of the world, including Europe, the Americas, and Oceania, as an agricultural pest. It is associated with citrus, but it attacks a wide range of crop plants, ornamental plants, and wild flora.
Perillus bioculatus, the two-spotted stink bug or double-eyed soldier bug, is a species of insect in the family Pentatomidae. They are native to North America but have been introduced to Eastern Europe and North India. Both the larval and adult stages are specialized predators of eggs and larvae of the Colorado potato beetle. However, the first instar larvae feed by sucking the juices out of potato stems.
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 it feeds on many species of pest insects. They also feed on things such as grasshoppers and other small insects. This species also hunts in a pack, with up to twelve.
Mormidea lugens is a species of stink bug in the family Pentatomidae found in the Caribbean, Central America, and Eastern North America. In Illinois, adults have been observed emerging from overwintering sites in late April, and continue to be observed until early November, and appear to be bivoltine in this area. Eggs are approximately 0.7 millimetres (0.028 in) in diameter, pale yellow, and laid in small clusters of 6 to 11 eggs. Adults are bronze in color, with a white-yellow border around the scutellum, and are 5.0–7.2 millimetres (0.20–0.28 in) in length. In laboratory conditions, at approximately 24 °C (75 °F), development from eggs to adults has been documented to take between 39 and 50 days, and appears to be affected by the species of host plant. Mormidea lugens has been documented to feed on timothy, sedges, as well as deer-tongue grass, and Bosc's panic-grass. It has been collected from pale sedge and wide-leaved spiderwort but has not observed feeding on these species, and deer-tongue grass appears to be an insufficient food source for development.
Chlorochroa is a genus of shield (stink) bugs in the family Pentatomidae, found in Europe and North America. There are over 20 described species in Chlorochroa.
Monteithiella humeralis, commonly known as the pittosporum shield bug is a species of herbivorous shield bug native to Australia and introduced in New Zealand. As its common name suggests, it is most commonly observed feeding on Pittosporum plants.
The giant mesquite bug is an insect of the order Hemiptera, or the "true bugs". As a member of the family Coreidae, it is a leaf-footed bug. As the common name implies, it is a large bug that feeds on mesquite trees of the American Southwest and Northwestern Mexico.
Cuspicona simplex, commonly known as the green potato bug, is a herbivorous species of stink bug native to Australia and introduced to New Zealand. It feeds on nightshades, and is primarily known as a pest of potatoes, tomatoes, and other crops in the nightshade family.
Planococcus ficus, commonly known as the vine mealybug, is a species of mealybug, belonging to the family Pseudococcidae, native to tropical and subtropical regions. The vine mealybug is found in Europe, Northern Africa, Southern Africa, the Americas, and the Middle East. The vine mealybug is invasive to weedy plants in many different regions of the world.
Media related to Proxys punctulatus at Wikimedia Commons