| Sphaerocoris annulus | |
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| Species: | S. annulus |
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| Sphaerocoris annulus (Fabricius, 1775) | |
Sphaerocoris annulus, common names Picasso bug or Zulu hud bug (Zulu: "iCikwa"), is a species of shield-backed bugs of the family Scutelleridae. [1]
Sphaerocoris annulus can reach a length of about 15 millimetres (0.59 in). [2] [3] The basic color is green, with eleven ring-shaped spots on the scutellum. The colors and the design of these bugs represent a warning to predators. They also emit a noxious odour when disturbed. Main host plants are Gossypium species (Malvaceae), Coffea arabica (Rubiaceae), Citrus species (Rutaceae) and Vernonia amygdalina (Asteraceae). [4] This species reproduces at the beginning of the dry season (November–December). Eggs are laid on the underside of leaves, and nymphs will spend a majority of their time in flowers feeding. Once they molt into adults, however, their feeding becomes more generalized. The full development lasts 56 days. [5] [6] Sphaerocoris annulus nymphs are a creamy-white color with black stripes and dots, and gain their colorful spots when they reach maturity. [2]
This species is present in tropical and subtropical Africa (Benin, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Zambia [3] and Zimbabwe).
Hemiptera is an order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising over 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, assassin bugs, bed bugs, and shield bugs. They range in size from 1 mm (0.04 in) to around 15 cm (6 in), and share a common arrangement of piercing-sucking mouthparts. The name "true bugs" is often limited to the suborder Heteroptera.
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.
Elasmucha grisea, common name parent bug, is a species of shield bugs or stink bugs belonging to the family Acanthosomatidae. The term parent bugs includes also the other species of the genus Elasmucha and some species of the family Acanthosomatidae.
Coreidae is a large family of predominantly sap-sucking insects in the Hemipteran suborder Heteroptera. The name "Coreidae" derives from the genus Coreus, which derives from the Ancient Greek κόρις (kóris) meaning bedbug.
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.
Reduvius personatus or the masked hunter is an insect belonging to the assassin bug (Reduviidae) family. The name is because its nymphs camouflage themselves with dust. The masked hunter is a predator of small arthropods, including woodlice, lacewings, earwigs, bed bugs and termites. Masked hunters do not feed on human blood, but can bite humans in self-defense when mishandled. The bite can be painful, but masked hunters do not carry Chagas disease unlike the kissing bug for which they are sometimes mistaken.
Cimex is a genus of insects in the family Cimicidae. Cimex species are ectoparasites that typically feed on the blood of birds and mammals. Two species, Cimex lectularius and Cimex hemipterus, are known as bed bugs and frequently feed on humans, although other species may parasitize humans opportunistically. Species that primarily parasitize bats are known as bat bugs.
Dolycoris baccarum, the sloe bug or hairy shieldbug, is a species of shield bug in the family Pentatomidae.
Canthophorus dubius is a species of burrowing bugs or negro bugs belonging to the family Cydnidae, subfamily Sehirinae.
Stagonomus venustissimus, common name woundwort shieldbug, is a species of shieldbug belonging to the family Pentatomidae, subfamily Pentatominae.
Calliphara nobilis is a species of jewel bug found in Asia. Like all species of jewel bugs, it is phytophagous, feeding on the leaves, fruit and seeds of its host plants. This insect is notable for its multiple defense mechanisms: it is highly mobile and swarms disperse with a loud buzz when disturbed; it is aposematically colored, which serves as a warning to any would-be predators that it is unpalatable; and it possesses a robust chemical defense mechanism: it can secrete an irritating and toxic fluid from a pair of metathoracic scent glands when threatened.
Tessaratomidae is a family of true bugs. It contains about 240 species of large bugs divided into 3 subfamilies and 56 genera.
Tectocoris diophthalmus, commonly known as the hibiscus harlequin bug or cotton harlequin bug, is the sole member of the genus Tectocoris. It is a brightly coloured convex and rounded shield-shaped bug with a metallic sheen that grows to about 20 mm. Adult females are mostly orange and males are both blue and red or orange, while nymphs are typically metallic green and purple. The colours are quite variable, and experiments suggest that the variation in colour may reduce bird predation, especially on the immature stages. This extreme level of variation is such that different taxonomists have, since 1781, described this species under different new names at least 16 times, some of these supernumerary names remaining in use until 2006, when it was finally confirmed that they were all colour forms of a single organism. It is common in Eastern Australia, New Guinea and several Pacific Islands in habitats ranging from urban to agricultural and coastal areas.
Eurygaster maura, also known as tortoise bug, is a species of true bugs or shield-backed bugs belonging to the family Scutelleridae.
Piezodorus lituratus, the gorse shield bug, is a species of Pentatomidae, a family of shield bugs.
Peribalus strictus, common name Vernal Shieldbug, is a species of shield bugs in the family Pentatomidae.
Chrysocoris stollii is a polyphagous species of jewel bugs (Scutelleridae) common in continental Southeast Asia.
Plagiognathus arbustorum is a species of insects in the family Miridae, the plant bugs.
Aelia acuminata, common name bishop's mitre, is a species of shield bug belonging to the family Pentatomidae.
Pachycoris is a genus of true bugs in the family Scutelleridae, subfamily Pachycorinae. The adults often have large bright spots. It was described by Charles Jean-Baptiste Amyot and Jean Guillaume Audinet-Serville in 1843.
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