Two mystery bugs
September 21, 2009
Bug #1 – Brown, six legged with wings and looks to be a stinger. About 2 inches long. Found dead on our driveway.
Bug #2 – Brown and white spotted bugs with orange spots almost like a lady bug. Found on our althea red heart hibiscus buds.
Heather Korn
West Tennessee
Scentless Plant Bug
Hi again Heather,
Bug #2 is a Scentless Plant Bug, Niesthrea louisianica, and it has no common name. According to BugGuide, it: “Feeds on flower buds and seeds of plants in the Mallow family (Malvaceae), such as Hibiscus and Rose of Sharon.“ More importantly, BugGuide also indicates it is: “Used as a control of the invasive annual weed, Velvetleaf (Abutilon theophrasti). In one 1987 study mentioned here it was found to reduce seed production by 98%.“ The brightly colored immature nymphs in your photo are wingless, but your photo also shows a winged adult, though the individual is not the point of focus in your photograph.
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Posted 22 September 2009
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Nuttall’s blister beetle and true bugs
Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 6:33 AM
Hi Lisa Anne and Daniel, when I took this photo I was focused on the blister beetle. But I am now intrigued by the true bugs which I am unable to identify. Can you?
Thanks so much.
Dwaine
Pine Mtn, west of Casper, WY
P.S. Nuttall’s
Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 6:58 AM
Sorry, I know better. They are on Golden Banner (Thermopsis rhombifolia).
Dwaine
Pine Mtn
Nuttail's Blister Beetle and unknown Plant Bug
Hi Dwaine,
Thanks so much for sending us your photo of Nuttail’s Blister Beetle. Lytta nuttalli. We believe the Hemipteran in the photo is a Plant Bug in the family Miridae. We looked through many photos on BugGuide, and we believe your bug most closely matches a posting of the genus Hadronema. Interestingly, there is a photo posted to BugGuide of a Plant Bug in the same subfamily, Orthotylinae, Aoplonema nigrum, that is associated with a Blister Beetle. We will contact Eric Eaton to see if he agrees with our identification. Perhaps the plant bugs gather the blistering agent, cantharidin, as a defense mechanism.
Update: from Eric Eaton
Daniel:
The swamp milkweed beetle ID is right on. I don’t have the time at the moment to research the plant bug beyond family level, and that is also correct (Miridae).
Eric
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