Bronze Orange Bug Nymph from Australia

bugman

November 13th, 2008 at 11:35 pm

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Flat Yellow Insect from the backyard
Tue, Nov 11, 2008 at 1:25 AM
Dear Bugman,
We hope you can help us identify an insect that my son found in the backyard in a paved area. It is about the size of a 5 cent coin, flat and yellow in colour with a black spot in the middle if its back and a thin black line around the edge of its body. It has black and yellow stripes on the antennae. it does not appear to have any wings and is happy to sit and walk around on my sons hand. He thinks it is lovely and want to keep it as a pet and find out what it eats!
Bug lovers
Australia (Gold Coast)

Bronze Orange Bug Nymph

Hi Bug Lovers,
The reason your Bronze Orange Bug, Musgraveia sulciventris, doesn’t have wings is that it is an immature nymph. We found matching images on the Geocities website where the text indicates that they suck the sap from citrus tree leaves and twigs.

Katydid Nymph and Aphids from Australia (November 9, 2005)
Orange Potter Wasp from Australia (January 12, 2008)
Mating Bronze Orange Bugs from Australia (December 11, 2008)
Orange Black Stink Bug from Australia (March 12, 2009)
Bronze Orange Bug relative from Australia (November 19, 2009)

Comments 1

grev wrote:
Bug lovers, If your son handles that stink bug, soon his hand will have an orange stain on it and it will smell dreadful. These bugs hang out on citrus, but their original plants of preference were natives. If they multiply on your citrus, you will have a depleted crop. Some people kill them, but we put on gloves, collect them in a paper bag and release them in the bush, where they belong. The orange stain is very strong and will pass through thick plastic gloves!
Posted 14 Nov 2008 at 4:41 am ¶