Please help identify green bug
Location: Sierra Nevada foothills, ca 2500’ elevation
November 1, 2010 7:31 am
Observed these mating on a thistle, late June, 2010. I believe his neighbor is a yellow-faced bumble bee.
Signature: Captain Telemark

Mating Stink Bugs

Dear Captain Telemark,
Other than being able to identify this amorous pair as mating Stink Bugs, we cannot provide a species identification because the lateral view is not ideal for identification purposes, and there are numerous green Stink Bugs in the family Pentatomidae.

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A cool Korean bug
Location:  Korea
October 19, 2010 4:23 pm
Hi!
This interesting specimen was spotted in Korea. I recognized hemipteran features, and after a little research, I thought it was probably pentatomoidean; maybe genus Eurydema.
Am I right? Can we narrow down the species?
Thanks!,
Signature:  Brian J Bowers

Clown Stink Bug, we believe

Hi Brian,
This is certainly a Stink Bug in the family Pentatomidae.  We opened your letter last night and selected the image as one we wanted to research in the morning, and we got trapped in the horrible software update cycle that required quitting most of what we were doing before we could resume posting.  We had begun researching and we followed some leads beginning with a five year old posting on our site of a Clown Stink Bug nymph, Poecilocoris lewisi, but old links we provided were no longer active.  Interestingly, the person who submitted that image was led to our site because Randy Cassingham had selected us as the Bonzer Web Site of the Week.  We then searched for some new links of pictures of the adult, and though the markings were very similar to your image, the black appears to be green metallic like this Korean post card.  We did find one Korean website with images identified as Poecilocoris lewisi that look like your photo.  That still seems to be a closer match than the Eurydema images that Google produces.

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Odd bug on my Lantana Camara plant
Location:  Arlington, VA / Washington, DC
September 25, 2010 3:49 pm
My Lantana Camara plant has been getting some brown spots recently. I live in the Washington, DC / Arlington Virginia area, and purchased it at a local Home Depot. It has been doing very well for months for now.
Until the visitor.
I don’t know who he is. I’ve seen up to three of them at a top. They are a little bigger than my thumbnail, and can fly, although they usually crawl. Once I spied one nestled near some of the berries on top, perhaps sucking nectar from them.
I know just enough about gardening to know about good bugs and bad bugs. I’ve been flicking them away from my plant for a week now, assuming them to be of the devilish variety, but I wish to know more about my erstwhile foe. So, can you tell me what kind of bug this is?
Signature:  Clueless in Arlington

Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs

Dear Clueless,
We just provided you with a quick response, but we also had two additional requests for the identification of the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, Halyomorpha halys, an introduced invasive exotic species that often enters homes when cold weather sets in.  Since it appears they may be multiplying in numbers, we suspect that come October, identification requests may increase, so we decided to feature the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug as the Bug of the Month for October 2010 and to use your letter and photos as the posting.

Brown Marmorated Stink Bug

Brown marmorated stink bugs
September 25, 2010 12:47 pm
A friend of mine, knowing that I’m into entomophagy, has offered me a bunch of the brown marmorated stink bugs that are all over Maryland these days.  I know that the green ones are eaten, and relished, in Mexico; is  there any reason these brown ones wouldn’t be equally edible?
Signature: Beatrix Whitehall

Hi Beatrix,
We are forwarding you letter to our contributing expert in entomophagy, David Gracer, in the hopes he can provide a response before we post the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug as the bug of the month for October.  We will be adding your letter to that posting.

David Gracer agrees to investigate the Edibility of the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug
September 26, 2010
Hello Daniel and Beatrix,
This is part one of my response.  I don’t know of any documentation confirming this species as an edible, though yeah, the other Pentatomids considered delectable appear to be quite similar.  I might try one on speculation just to see what it was like on the palate, but I’d shy away from a meal of them and obviously cannot recommend to others as of yet.
I’m currently visiting Athens GA; UGA held their annual Insectival yesterday (at the gorgeous State Botanical Gardens).  I’ll be addressing the entomology department tomorrow afternoon, and I’ll share this anecdote and challenge the students to investigate the matter.  After all, with such great bounty heaped upon homeowners each fall, it would be useful to be able to make good use of them for a change.  Maybe something will turn up.
Best,
Dave

Thanks Dave,
We eagerly await your response.

Here’s part two: my mention of culinary possibilities of the BMSB prompted barely-perceptible changes of facial expressions during my visit.  I suspect that the extreme abundance of conventional food sources leads to a dearth of academic research into the identification of consumable insect species.  I remain interested in the idea, though, and I’d probably try this species if someone will send me some.
Best,
Dave

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A Milkweed Bug is a Milkweed Bug is a Milkweed Bug?
Location:  Towsley Canyon State Park. Los Angeles County
September 12, 2010 9:57 pm
Hey there,
Found these guys all over the dry grass tonight on my hike through Towsley Canyon. My first guess is that it was a Milkweed Bug instar. Hard to tell the shape is more Pentatomid but not quite.
That and they were tiny maybe 3mm to 4mm.
Sorry for the flash sun had already dropped behind the hill.
Signature:  Chris Irons

Painted Bug

Dear Chris,
The African Painted Bug, Bagrada hilaris, one of the Stink Bugs, was first reported in Los Angeles in 2008.  Since then it has spread rapidly.  It feeds upon plants in the cabbage family including the wild mustard you have photographed it upon.

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