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Leaf Footed BugsTags
Invasive ExoticsIs this in Hemiptera?
Thu, Jan 29, 2009 at 2:43 PM
My students and I recently found this bug on a nature walk. I’ve looked everywhere to try and identify it. Please Help….???
Dr. G
Central Flordia
Giant Sweet Potato Bug Nymph
Dear Dr. G,
This is a Hemipteran. More specifically, it is a Giant Sweet Potato Bug nymph, Spartocera batatas, one of the Leaf Footed Bugs in the family Coreidae. We matched the photo to one on BugGuide, also from Florida. According to BugGuide, which only has reports from Florida: “Non-native, found in Surinam and some Caribean islands. First reported in the continental US in Florida in 1995. “ We are tagging this as an invasive exotic. It may be an introduced species that entered the country through human intervention, it may have been introduced through hurricane winds, or it may be a result of range expansion due to global warming. Global warming will most definitely affect both species range expansions, and species range declines.
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